Say That Again
by Lucy Grayson
Summary: Tahni and Co return with more insanity, more giggles and more drama. I simply couldn't retire her. Rated cautiously for possible bad language.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, I couldn't resist doing something more with Tahni. I love her too much. I dunno how long this will go one for, it's just a bit of fun, so I hope you guys enjoy it :D**

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"Say that again, I dare you!"

"Did you not hear the first time? Okay, let me slow this down for you, baby cakes; You…suuuuuuuuuuuck!" The capacity crowd screamed their approval and stamped their feet, whilst the Bella twins looked absolutely furious at the insult. Nikki screamed unintelligibly, whilst Brie just opened and closed her mouth, the microphone still held up to it, but no sound coming out. That was okay, because the electric blue haired, pixie like woman on the other side of the ring didn't seem to be done yet. She grinned at the impishly. "Oh, come on, girls. You didn't really think you were here because you had wrestling talent, did you? Oh…you did? Whoops. Hate to burst that bubble for you, but hell, I guess you got plenty spare in the space where your brains should be. No, ladies, there are only four reasons you got into this company." She made a point of motioning to their chests. "And let's face it, they're not even that impressive."

Nikki snatched the microphone off her sister and chose this moment to throw it at the other woman's head, but she moved out of the way, dropping her own mic before launching herself at the twins and taking them both down with a double-clothesline. Both girls rolled quickly out of the ring, unprepared for being assaulted and humiliated by the tiny diva.

Tahni Cauldwell watched them go, with a smirk on her face. She blew them a kiss, before looking at the audience, grinning and then leaving the ring. When she got backstage, she looked at the twins, who were waiting for her and sent them a curt nod. The three of them did not really get along. Tahni didn't really get along with most of the women in the locker room, but that was okay because she had some pretty awesome friends anyway. "Glenny!" Tahni took a running jump at the back of the man who had become her closest friend in the business. Glenn Jacobs would be very unlikely to take this kind of behaviour from anyone else, but he'd grown used to it and caught her as she clambered onto him, shifting her up into a more comfortable position so she could hook her arms around his neck. "Where to?"

"I'm starved, so catering!"

"You're always starved."

"I know." Tahni said mournfully, letting out a heavy sigh and dropping her head onto the big man's shoulder. Glenn snorted and shook his head, ambling off down the corridor. The sight of Glenn giving a piggyback to the tiny diva should have been perplexing to everyone they passed, but they barely got a glance these days. Tahni noticed and pouted. "Hey, Glenn."

"Yeah, T?"

"I think people are bored of us."

"What?"

"No-one gets surprised anymore."

"Well, we've been friends for a while now, T."

"We should have a fight."

"A fight?"

"Are you deaf? Yes, a fight."

"Why?"

"Because then people will be surprised."

"We never fight."

"We always fight!"

"No, we don't."

"Yes, we do."

"Don't."

"Do."

"Don't."

"We're doing it right now!"

"No, we aren't."

"Yes, we are."

"Aren't."

"Are."

"Aren't."

"Are."

By now, they had entered the catering area and their bickering was indeed drawing quite a bit of attention, which only seemed to encourage Tahni to become even more obnoxious. "Hey, Glenn."

"What?"

"You have a really big bald patch." She leaned back as if to scrutinise the back of his head, which causing him to dump her unceremoniously on the floor. She tottered a little and almost fell, squeaking in alarm. A strong set of arms caught her by the waist and steadied her. She turned, lifting her eyebrows and grinning as her gaze locked onto a pair of steel blue eyes. "Thanks."

"Have you been being annoying again, T?"

"Me? Never!" Glenn made a disbelieving noise and Tahni aimed a kick at the back of his leg, which only resulted in her howling in pain. "Ow! Damn you and your titanium legs! For this travesty, I demand that you buy me cake! Lots and lots of cake!"

"You don't even like cake."

"Not the point! Buy me cake!" Glenn rolled his eyes and Tahni turned her full attention back to the man in front of her. She let her eyes travel slowly from his feet upwards, relishing every part of him, from the strong, denim clad thighs to the heavily tattooed arms. When her eyes met his, he looked very amused, "See something you like?"

"Nah, I like my man to have an ass." She smirked mischievously and saw Randy's eyes narrow in response. He crossed the short space between them, grabbing both of her hands and crossing them behind her back. "I've warned you about that."

"So you have." Tahni didn't sound in the least repentant and she certainly wasn't fighting against his hold on her hands. Randy bared his teeth at her, "You're obnoxious."

"So are you."

"I'm allowed to be, it's part of my gimmick."

"Oh, is having no ass part of your gimmick too?"

"Watch it, Imp."

"How am I supposed to, assclown? It's not there." Tahni's voice turned sing-song and she tilted her head a little, smiling innocently. Randy opened his mouth to reply, but Glenn's voice cut across him. "When you two are done being disgusting and doing your version of a PDA, I would like to eat sometime this evening." Tahni leaned back and turned her head to look at Glenn, then at the tray in his hands. "You didn't buy me cake."

"T, if I bought you cake, you'd have pushed Randy's face in it, then blamed it on me for buying something you don't like." Tahni gasped as if this suggestion was completely outrageous. She looked at Randy for support, but he just shrugged and she quickly deflated, giving in. "Yeah, I know." The three of them traipsed over to one of the empty tables and sat down. Randy draped his arm over Tahni's shoulders, but she slapped it away. He jerked it back towards him looking injured. "I know your game, Orton. My fries." Randy widened his eyes in an attempt to look innocent, but Tahni just shook her head. "No. You're on an all meat diet for the next three days. Doctor's orders."

"Screw the doctor."

"Well, he is hot. So, if you want me to, Randy, I will make that sacrifice."

"Don't you dare." Randy growled at her. Glenn rolled his eyes at them, stabbing his fork into his pile of fries. "Tahni, what have I told you about annoying Randy?"

Tahni looked at him and sighed, "Not to do it, because you don't want me sleeping on your couch."

"Uh-huh and why don't I want you sleeping on my couch?"

"Because I talk in my sleep."

"You were talking in your sleep last night actually." Randy mused, thoughtfully, stealing a handful of fries off Tahni's plate whilst she attempted to beat him to death with a plastic fork. He continued undeterred, "You were calling out Ted's name. Should I be worried?"

Tahni grinned and shrugged, "Yes. I'm having a torrid affair with him. We get together on Sundays nights and worship your underpants. It's brought us together." Randy and Glenn both stopped eating and just stared at her, but she ignored them, brutally stabbing her salad leaves with her fork.

* * *

"DiBiase!"

"Cauldwell!"

"'Sup?"

"'Sup."

"How cool are we?"

"So cool."

"Ew, Maryse is looking at you like she's going to start gnawing on your leg."

"Yeah…I think she's mistaken me for a frog."

"Dude, that's racist."

"How?"

"'Cause…it is."

"The French eat frog's legs, right?"

"Well, yeah…"

"Then it's not racist, it's an observation." They both fell silent, just contemplating the conversation they'd just had. In the mean time, Maryse sidled over to them and tapped Ted lightly on the shoulder, "I'm really looking forward to our match tonight, Teddy Bear." Tahni gagged quietly and Ted frowned, "Don't call me that. Not ever. Ever." Maryse opened her mouth to speak, but Ted held up a finger and whispered, "Ever." Maryse pouted and walked away, at which point Tahni burst out in giggles, before sobering and looking thoughtful. "Isn't your wife here tonight?"

Ted nodded, looking anxious. This storyline already had him in the doghouse at home. He wouldn't put it past his wife to jump the barrier and pound the living crap out of Maryse in front of the entire arena. He would have to get his father to restrain her. Just in case. Not that it was Maryse's safety he was worried about. He'd been on the receiving end of his better half's temper and it hurt. A lot.

"You're thinking about it, aren't ya?" Tahni enquired gleefully. Ted nodded and she smirked, "You hate me right now, don't ya?" He nodded again and Tahni bounced up to kiss his cheek, before wandering off. She had gotten about thirty yards down the corridor before she smacked into something hard and large. She stumbled back and then looked up, her eyes widening in alarm. "Um…sorry."

"Cauldwell." Mark's voice made the long journey down to her and she let out a small squeak in response. Didn't matter how long she knew him or how often she saw him, he still frightened the absolute living daylights out of her. Mark just looked at her as if he were expecting her to do something, but she simply stood there like a deer in the headlights, so he spoke again, "How are things?"

It was quite possibly the most normal thing Tahni had ever heard him say and it stuck her completely dumb for several more seconds. This annoyed Mark to the point where he felt the need to suddenly jerk towards her and shout, "Boo!" Tahni promptly screamed as if she were being gutted and ran off down the corridor with her arms flailing in the air.

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"Okay, here's the deal, Cauldwell. We're gonna run this line for a couple more months, leading up to 'Mania and then it'll end, but, you have got to stop screaming when you're backstage. It got picked up on the backstage mics last week and freaked all the fans out! Stop screaming or I'm going to end your push right here." Vince looked at Tahni with a hard gaze and she had the grace to look apologetic. It wasn't like she did it on purpose. It just kinda happened. Like an involuntary explosion of noise. It was hard to believe that someone so small could make so much noise.

She traipsed out of the meeting and looked sadly at Randy who was waiting for her. He immediately approached and put his arms around her, "What happened?"

"He said I have to stop screaming."

"Aw, sweetie, that's okay, I'm su- Wait, what?" Randy leaned back and looked at her. She lifted her eyes to his, still looking very sad and sighed heavily. "I'm not allowed to scream when I'm backstage anymore or they're going to end my push."

Randy took a couple of seconds to bite on the insides of his lips, to force himself not to smile, "I see." He forced the two words out with difficulty and then nodded. Tahni narrowed her eyes suspiciously, so he just pulled her into a tight hug so she couldn't see the grin which had spread across his face. She was insane. Completely and utterly insane and for some bizarre reason, he absolutely adored that about her. There wasn't a single part of her that he would change. Not even how much they had hated one another when they'd first met, not even one of the many arguments they had had in those first months when they couldn't even stand to be around one another.

Tahni sniffled slightly and Randy pulled out of the hug and put an arm around her shoulders, "Want to go to Cracker Barrel to cheer you up?"

"Can we take Glenny?" She asked hopefully and Randy lifted an eyebrow at her, "Is he like your pet or something?"

"Precisely. Just don't tell him that."

"Why not?"

"He thinks he's people." Randy couldn't help but burst out laughing and he nodded, leading her away from Vince's office and out of the building.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: As with my other fic, I am so sorry this update has taken so long and I hope it's worth the wait. I will try to update more regularly after this.**

**Huge thanks to; _Miss Write Away, Sonib89, Christina89 _and _Tenshi no Koneko _for reviewing the last chapter.

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"Don't make me turn this car around!" Randy's voice broke through the sound of bickering and both Tahni and Ted turned to look at him, as if just noticing his presence in the car. Tahni stuck her tongue out at Ted and then shifted around in her seat so that she was facing forwards again. She glanced over at Randy. He was tense, more so than usual. The muscles along his jaw were flexed where he was gritting his back teeth together. He was nervous. Today he was going to find out if his previous shoulder injuries meant he was going to need major surgery which could risk his entire career.

Tahni reached across and rested her small hand on his leg, squeezing lightly so that he glanced at her. She offered him a small smile, which he tried to return before looking out of the windshield again. This caused Tahni to bite down on her lower lip, as she tried to think of something reassuring to say. Unfortunately, being Tahni, the only thing she could think of wasn't very helpful at all, "Ted's wearing ladies underwear."

Randy's eyebrows shot up, whilst Ted spluttered a wordless protest in the back. Tahni looked at him apologetically and shrugged, before lapsing back into silence.

Once they reached the hotel, Ted bolted out of the car, having been complaining that he needed to go to the bathroom for the last fifty miles. Randy went to climb out as well, but Tahni's hand on his arm stopped him, "Wait a second. I wanna talk to you." Randy frowned at her, but sat back, looking expectant. Tahni sighed and ran her fingers through her short hair, "Look, I know you're scared about today, but…everything'll be fine. You know? I mean, you've gone this long without needing surgery and besides, even if you need it, it's not that big a deal. I mean, y-"

"Not that big a deal?" Randy interrupted her, frowning, "This is my career, T, it's a very big deal." Tahni shook her head, holding her hands up in surrender, "I know, I know. I just mean, it wouldn't keep you out forever. It's just one year."

"_Just _one year. Tahni, you know this business. Everything changes in a year. If I go out, I might never get back in. They might not wait around for me."

"They waited for John."

"I'm not John!" Randy snapped, causing Tahni to flinch slightly. "Just…stop trying to trivialise this, okay? This is my life we're talking about. This business is all that matters to me. _All._ You got that?" Tahni just looked at him, not trusting her voice and she nodded, before wrenching the car door open and stalking around to the trunk to get her bags. Randy, seeming to realise he'd upset her, tried to help but she yanked the bag away from him, "I can manage!"

She said nothing more to him before she turned and went into the hotel. She managed to make it to her room before the tears bubbled over. She threw her bags angrily at the foot of the bed and sat down, ramming the heels of her hands into her eyes. She was just being stupid. Randy was tense, he was anxious and he was allowed to be upset and insensitive right now. She needed to stop over-reacting, but in the back of her head, all she could hear was his voice repeating the words 'All that matters to me.' and it hurt.

"Ugh!" She scrubbed at her eyes, trying to get rid of the tears which just seemed to want to keep coming and then stood up. She wanted to see Glenn, so she headed back down to the lobby to see if he'd checked in yet. He hadn't. This caused her to heave a huge sigh and just head for the front doors. She squeaked a little as she got outside and the bitter cold hit her. She instantly wrapped her arms around herself, wishing she'd grabbed a jacket, instead of coming out here in just her t-shirt. She looked towards the road, as if Glenn's car would just suddenly appear from nowhere and sighed when it didn't, "Where are you, Glenn?"

She sat down on the steps, ignoring the strange looks she was getting. She was determined to wait right there until Glenn got to the hotel. She would have done precisely that if it hadn't started to rain quite heavily and without warning. She would even have sat through that, if Ted hadn't found her, taken a firm hold of her bright blue hair and dragged her back inside, kicking and screaming. Literally.

She stood in the lobby, dripping water and glaring at him. He just shrugged, looking innocent, "You'll thank me when you don't catch hypothermia."

"Standing in the rain doesn't give you hypothermia, it's been proven."

"You weren't standing. You were sitting." Ted answered smugly, causing Tahni to yank her wet sneaker off her foot and proceed to beat him with it. He screamed in protest, trying to cover up, but she was relentless, jumping on his back and hanging on like a pitbull, whilst smacking him over the head with the canvas shoe.

"Cauldwell!" Tahni yelped and fell of Ted's back, wincing as her back hit the floor. She squeezed one eye open to look at the huge form in front of her. Mark looked down at her, one of his lips curled slightly in a scowl, his eyebrows knitted together in a frown. "What are you doing?"

Tahni opened her eyes fully and sat up, having to crane her head right back to look at him, "Trying to kill, DiBiaise."

"Why?"

"Why not?"

"Interesting point." Mark turned his head to look over at Ted, whose eyes widened in alarm. He held up his hands, "Hey, man…look…I didn't…I mean…she…bye." Without another word, he darted away from the lobby. Tahni squealed in surprised as Mark's hand reached down and closed on her shoulder, lifting her easily up and setting her on her feet. He then scowled more, "You're all wet."

"It's raining outside." Tahni replied in a dazed fashion, just staring at him. He looked towards the large front door, saw the rain and nodded slowly, "So it is." That appeared to be his last word on the matter, as he turned and strode away. As usual, leaving Tahni staring after him.

"Tahni."

"Whoa!" Tahni spun around, her hands curled into fist ready for a fight. She lowered them slowly as she saw who it was that had come up behind her. She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Glenn! Don't do that!" Glenn ignored her, instead taking in her appearance, "You're all wet."

"Yes. Yes, I am."

"Why are you all wet?"

"I'm in a top floor room and the rain made the roof collapse, so I got wet and almost died."

"Stood out in the rain, huh?"

"No!…I was sitting." Glenn smirked at her answer and put an arm around her shoulders, tugging her gently along with him as he made his way to the check-in desk. "Were you waiting for me?"

Tahni looked away, examining her nails as if they were very interesting, "No. Why would I be?" She looked over at him and scowled as he grinned at her, dropping his arm from her shoulders. "I'm sorry that I'm late, but I figured you'd be all caught up with Randy anyway." He frowned as he saw her expression drop and tilted his head, "T, did something happen with Randy?"

"We had a fight." She mumbled, lowering her eyes, feeling embarrassed at how upset she was by such a stupid fight. Glenn sighed as he took his key card and then turned to her again, "Another one?" All they seemed to do was fight lately. Now that the honeymoon period had worn off, they seemed to be remembering how much they had annoyed one another in the past. "Wanna hang out?" Tahni nodded and Glenn nudged her gently towards the elevator.

About two hours later, Tahni had explained everything, ordered room service, eaten half the snacks from the mini-bar and refused to pay for them and stolen all the free toiletries from the bathroom. Glenn had tried his best to make her feel better about fighting with Randy, it didn't even seem like that big a fight to him, but he had a feeling there was something about it which was really bothering Tahni. He looked at her closely as she sat cross legged on his bed, staring despondently at her now empty packet of macadamia nuts. "I just…he's so much _more_ than me. I know it sounds stupid, but his life circles a bigger picture than mine does, he wants more things, he has bigger dreams. His life is this business, to me it's just fun. I'm never going to be able to compete with that. The company will always be above me in his priorities."

Glenn shook his head, sitting down on the edge of the bed. He placed a hand on the side of her head and drew her against his shoulder, kissing her hair, "Then he's an idiot." He said quietly, hugging her close. He didn't like to see her upset. There was something almost criminal about upsetting Tahni. She was always such a happy person, always up to no good, having fun. Only Randy ever seemed to be able to bring that mood down and Glenn hated him for that. Hated him each time she appeared in his doorway, with tear stains on her face, or an unhappy expression. Only Randy had made her cry as long as Glenn had known her.

"It'll be okay, T-Bird."

"T-Bird?" Tahni lifted her head, a small smile tugging at her lips. Glenn shrugged, "I'm trying it out. What do you think?" Tahni was grinning now and she sat up fully, before tacking him and hugging him. "I love it." Tackling Glenn didn't have the effect it had on normal sized people, it was more like throwing yourself at an immoveable brick wall, but Tahni always seemed to forget this and did it anyway. Now she was sat complaining that he'd 'broken her boobies' and rubbing her sternum. Glenn snorted with laughter and a short while later kicked her out of his room so that he could shower and relax for a bit.

She headed to her own room and reluctantly opened the door. She looked around, with a downcast expression. The room felt cold and empty without Randy inside. They always booked separate rooms, just in case, but usually she spent all her time in his. Now she faced the big, empty bed and smell of cold out, with the sound of the rain hammering against the window and she just wanted to curl up and cry. Every day they were fighting. Every day there was something new that made him angry, or made her angry, or made them both angry. They couldn't seem to keep on the same level any more. It was like it had been when they'd first met, when they couldn't be trusted in the same room because they'd always end up fighting about something. She usually started it, she had to admit that now. She'd enjoyed winding him up in those days, but she didn't enjoy it now.

She knew he was tense because of the appointment today and that he'd been worrying about it for a while. Tahni had thought that keeping the atmosphere normal, might have helped him relax, but he struggled to see the funny side any more. He tried and she had to give him that, but his temper was always waiting just below the surface. One wrong word and he blew up like a geyser . She felt at a total loss. She didn't know how to fix it, but she desperately wanted to. She wanted to find the key to making everything better. They had been together for almost a year now, but already it felt stale and old. Like he was bored with her. Ready to move on, but she wasn't. She didn't want to let him go. She loved him far too much for that. She knew she didn't say it enough, but she hated to sounded needy, like she needed constant justification and reassurance. He knew how she felt and she knew how he felt. That was enough. She knew him well enough and trusted him enough to know that if that changed, she would be aware of it.

Well, now she was aware of it. She was working herself up and she knew it. She could feel herself starting to panic, to really believe that Randy didn't love her any more, that he was going to leave her. She couldn't face that. She just couldn't. She needed him. He was earth. He was solid and real and all the things that she needed to keep her grounded. She'd drifted her whole life in an imaginary world, knowing that she didn't fit into the real one, but he made her feel like she did, he made her feel whole and she didn't know what she would do now, without that. If Randy left, it would break her heart.

* * *

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Not at all. You take care now." Randy shook the man's hand and then turned to leave, letting out a long sigh and with it, he felt as if a weight had come off his chest. He didn't need the surgery and there was no better feeling in the world than having that knowledge. His shoulder had healed better than any of them could have hoped and he wouldn't have to sit out for a year. As soon as he was out of the hospital, he pulled out his cell to call Tahni, but then remembered that he hadn't seen her since their disagreement and she probably wasn't talking to him. He frowned, pondering what to do for a moment, before deciding to try calling her anyway.

He was surprised when she answered instantly and concerned by the panic in her voice, "Randy? Where are you? I looked for you, but they said you'd left. Why did you leave? I'm sorry. I know I was an idiot. Please, forgive me."

"Whoa, whoa, slow down. T, I just got out of the Doctor's." Randy was walking towards the car now. Tahni seemed to calm instantly, "Oh…Oh, right. Of course. How did it go?"

"Best possible news. No surgery." He shut the driver's door and fired up the ignition. "That's great. Really great." Tahni's voice was very quiet now and Randy sighed, leaning on the steering wheel. "T, I'm sorry about earlier. I was a jerk."

"No, it was me. I was being…me. I know how much your work means to you."

"You mean more. You know that, right?" There was no answer, "Tahni, right?"

"Sure, Randy." Randy didn't believe her for a second, but he knew that this was not a conversation he wanted to have on the phone. He wanted to see her and make her understand that she was the most important thing in his life. Yes, they'd had a lot of disagreements lately, but so did every couple. Relationships weren't bread and butter, they took work. He had one failed marriage to prove his experience in the matter. He didn't want to mess things up with Tahni. She was amazing and insane and wonderful, all at the same time. She was more than he could ever have hoped to deserve and he cherished every moment with her. She was just so damn difficult at times.

Being with Tahni wasn't easy. She was a complicated person, difficult to understand and even more difficult to predict. Her mood changes were subtle, varying degrees of hyper-activity. Even when she was mad she was hyper. Over the months, Randy had learned to detect the tiny shifts in her mood, the differences between her jokes, her crazy behaviour. He knew how to tell when she was in a slightly down mood because she stayed quite still, when she was happy, she moved around almost constantly. The subjects she spoke about, the people she spent time with, all the tiniest little details that gave away what was going on in her head, but recently, Randy felt like he'd missed something. He couldn't read her as well any more, as if he'd somehow forgotten how to. Like something had changed in one of them which had put a wedge there.

He didn't like that feeling and spent most of his days trying to make things normal again. He tried so hard to make her happy, to avoid arguments, but they always happened anyway. It seemed impossible avoid no matter what he did and he didn't know why. He didn't know how to fix it. He wanted to find the key to making everything better.

He walked into his hotel room and almost jumped out of his skin as Ted suddenly appeared in front of him. He scowled, "How did you get in here?"

"Told the receptionist that it was an emergency and she gave me the spare key card." Ted answered instantly, before pointing his finger into Randy's face, "You."

"Me." Randy nodded, side-stepping him so that he could throw his keys onto the side. Ted continued to glare at him. "You."

"Yes, we've established that. Ted, what do you want?"

"You made her cry again!" Ted folded his arms stubbornly and Randy sighed, dropping down on the edge of the bed. He ran his hands over his head and stared at the floor, "I know I did." Ted glared at him, not seeming to be at all sympathetic to Randy's obvious guilt, "Why did you make her cry?"

"I didn't do it on purpose, Ted." Slowly, he told Ted, word-for-word, the argument he'd had with Tahni and Ted shook his head as if he were a disappointed parent looking at their child, "'This business is all that matters to me'? You really said that to her?" Randy sighed and nodded. He knew now that it had been stupid, but it wasn't like he could take it back. "You really are an ass-clown." Randy lifted his head to glared at the other man, who didn't seem at all bothered by his murderous expression, "Listen here, Orton; you gotta figure this out, because you can't keep doing this. Tahni is not the kind of person who can handle all these fights. She's fragile. You know that, I know that, everyone knows that except her and all this arguing is wearing her down. So stop it!" Ted then kicked his shin, causing him to yelp, before darting out of the room before he could give chase.

Randy rubbed his leg, muttering under his breath for a few minutes, before deciding that he really did need to go and see Tahni. Ted was an idiot, but he was right. He sighed and stood up, leaving the room and heading down the hall. It was strange having to go and find Tahni, he was so used to her being by his side. It felt alien to have to seek her out. Luckily, it had been him that booked the rooms, so he knew where she was. He knocked lightly on the door and waited.

It took a few minutes, but eventually the door flew open and Tahni appeared. She was leaning heavily on the doorjamb and squinting up at him, before a beaming smile broke across her pixie-like face, "Randy!"

"Are you drunk?" Randy eyed her suspiciously. She scoffed and swayed a little, grabbing the door to keep herself steady and laughing, "No! I do not drink!"

"You're drunk."

"Lil' bit."

"Should I come back later?"

"No! Come in, come in!" She ushered him inside, shutting the door, before walking unsteadily to the mini-bar and producing several small bottles of various alcoholic beverages, "What'll it be?" Randy shook his head, "I'm good, thanks."

Tahni shrugged and opened the bottles for herself. Randy watched in amazement. She then threw them away and moved in front of him. She shoved him in the chest, causing him to stumble. He was surprised and it showed, but she just shoved him again. Eventually he felt himself hit something and then he was falling, luckily landing on the bed. Tahni then jumped on him and sat on his stomach, pointing her finger at him, "Now, you listen here, Randy Orton. I know that your life is your work," She paused, before shaking her head, "Your work is your life, but, I am your girlfriend!" She pointed to herself now, "And I love you. So, you are not allowed to leave me."

Randy frowned at her, then sat up causing her to fall back slightly. He caught hold of her hands and held her up so that she was now kneeling between his legs, "Tahni, I'm not going to leave you."

"Yes, you are." She was shaking her head. Randy caught her chin in his hand, forcing her to look at him with her slightly glazed emerald eyes, "Tahni Cauldwell, I am never going to leave you." Her bottom lip quivered a little and she drew in a shaky breath, asking a small voice, "Promise?" Randy laughed and nodded, "I promise." He then wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly.

* * *

"Owwwwww. Stop hitting me!" Tahni grumbled, holding her head. Randy snickered and looked over at her, "I'm not." She instantly pressed a finger to her lips, "Shhh! Not you. The hammers in my head." She grabbed a pillow and dragged it over her head, as if that would help to cure her extremely bad hangover. Randy was trying so hard not to be amused by it, but it was exceptionally difficult. He got out of bed at a knock at the door, which cause Tahni to swear loudly and abusively. Chuckling, he opened the door and let the porter in with the room service. Giving him a large tip, he kicked him out. He poured Tahni a large orange juice, dumping to anti-hangover pills in it and set it beside the bed, "Drink that and get up. I'll make you some coffee."

Tahni was muttering abuse at him as she pulled the pillow off her face. She glared suspiciously at the orange juice, but open taking a sip of the sweet liquid, she realised how dehydrated she was and within seconds, the glass was empty and she was holding it out for more. Randy obliged, refilling the glass before handing it back to her, "You have quite an impressive level of alcohol tolerance."

"No, I have quite an impressive level of stupidity." She groaned, pressing her palm to her forehead as she finished the second glass of orange juice. She felt as weak as kitten and rotten all over. Nothing was worth this. She knew she got bad hangovers and yet for some reason she still thought it was a good idea to get drunk from time to time.

This was exactly the wrong moment for Ted to burst into the room, singing loudly, but that is precisely what he did. "I chime in, with a 'Haven't you people ever heard of, closing the God Damn door, no?' It's much better to face these kinds of things, with a sense of poise and rationality! Oof!" The glass hit him square in the chest then rolled unbroken across the floor. He glared at Tahni, "That wasn't very nice."

"Nor is your face."

"You're nasty."

"So's your mom."

"Oh, you did not just go there, Cauldwell!"

"Lower your voice or I will come over there and peel your skin from your body and wear you as a new fashion statement." Tahni growled dangerously. Ted eyed her for a few seconds as if to decide whether she was serious, before he spotted the many discarded bottles from the night before and gulped, turning his gaze on Randy. "She's hungover."

Randy was sat at the table, eating a slice of toast and watching the proceedings with amusement. He nodded in response to Ted's statement, "Yep." Ted flicked his eyes to Tahni, who still looked like she wanted to kill him, then looked at Randy again, "Dude, you could have warned me. Do you have any idea what she's like when she's hungover?"

"Considering that the last time, she tried to put me through a window, yes, Ted, I do."

"And you let me come in here singing?"

"How would you propose I should have stopped you?"

"I dunno, man, but you should have!" Randy rolled his eyes as Ted held his hands up in surrender to Tahni and slowly backed out of the room. Once he was gone, Randy looked over at her, "Enjoying yourself." She flipped him off and clambered out of bed, complaining as her legs threatened to give out under her. She half stumbled to the bathroom, still feeling drunk and switched the shower on. She stood under the water for at least half an hour, before she emerged, feeling a little better, but still not quite human.

When she emerged, Randy had breakfast and coffee waiting for her. She ignored the food and just drank the coffee, half tempted to gulp it straight from the pot. She was so thirsty. Damn alcohol. Randy watched her with a smirk and then pulled her onto his lap, "I'm sorry I upset you so much yesterday."

Tahni wrinkled her nose and buried her face once more in her coffee mug, too embarrassed to reply. Randy smiled and kissed her shoulder, "I do love you, y'know and you are more important than my work." Tahni looked at him, then pressed her lips to his forehead, "I know."

Despite this, despite the comfort with which they now sat together and the words of apology and forgiveness they had exchanged, neither felt that the distance between them had really been breached. It was going to take much more than this to fix whatever had gone wrong with their relationship, but it was something neither of them wanted to admit just yet.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Huge thanks to _Sonib89, Christina89 and Tenshi no Koneko _ for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are awesome, thanks for sticking with me even with the huge gap between updates in the past :)

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"Fine! Stay in there and see if I care!" Tahni aimed a kick at the door and then squealed in pain and hopped around for a few seconds, before screaming in frustration and stalking out of the hotel room, slamming the door behind her. He was impossible. Completely impossible. He wouldn't even tell her what she'd done wrong this time. She muttered under her breath as she stormed down the corridor to the elevator, then slumped against the back wall, folding her arms and looking sulky as it took her up.

When she arrived at Glenn's room, she had calmed down somewhat, but was still in a bad mood. She banged don the door and then walked inside. Glenn was nowhere in sight. Tahni frowned, looking around for her large friend, but she was pretty sure she'd spot him if he was hiding somewhere. The bathroom door was open, so he clearly wasn't in there. She huffed quietly to herself. What kind of person left their hotel room door unlocked when they weren't there? Anyone could have walked in and… She paused her thoughts, a slow grin appearing on her face. This was going to be fun.

* * *

Glenn smiled gratefully at the receptionist as she handed him his new key card and he apologised again for the inconvenience, still racking his brain for where he could possibly have left the other one. It had taken a while, but eventually the hotel had agreed to issue him another one. He took it and headed back up to his room, blissfully unaware of what awaited him. He grumbled quietly about the missing key card as he shoved the door open and then stopped dead, staring at the sight before him. The first thing he noticed was that the couch at the bottom of the bed was upside-down and he instantly thought that he'd been robbed. Then he noticed that the dressing table mirror had rude words written on it in shaving foam, his suitcase was on the bed and empty, his laptop was open and the words 'Glenn loves Ted' were scrolling across the screen. All of the light bulbs had been removed, the pictures on the walls had been turned upside-down and the bed covers had been turned inside-out. The shock of finding this was bad enough, but it was the empty suitcase that bothered him the most. Where were all of his clothes?

He heard a thud from the bathroom and narrowed his eyes. He slowly approached the door and carefully reached out to shove it open. The sight that greeted him this time was more of a shock than the rest put together and he almost fell over. Once the shock had worn off slightly, he burst out laughing to the extent that he had to lean heavily on the wall to keep himself up and hold his ribs, which felt like they might explode.

Sat, in the bathtub, wearing every single item of clothing that he had with him, was Tahni and she did not look impressed. She was lying with her legs in the air, unable to bend or manoeuvre to free herself and she was scowling at Glenn. "It's not funny! Get me out of here!" Glenn couldn't speak, he couldn't move, he was just laughing too hard. Tahni struggled to try and heave herself out of the tub, but failed miserably and this only made Glenn laugh more. Tahni gave up and just glared at him until he calmed down. It took a long time and even as he controlled himself enough to help her out, he was still chuckling loudly. Tahni tried to slap him, but her arms wouldn't move, so she just ended up waving her hands around uselessly. This set Glenn off again.

Tahni stopped her efforts to glare at him and he sobered enough to help her. It took about fifteen minutes to get enough layers of clothing off her so that she could move freely. She yanked the rest of them off and threw them at Glenn, who was still laughing to himself. She then threw herself on the bed, looking sulky. Glenn watched her as he picked up the clothes that were now scattered around the place, "Kinda backfired on you, huh?"

In response, Tahni flipped him off, then sat up and crossed her legs, "It was an awesome plan." Glenn lifted his eyebrows and looked around the room at the chaos she had created, "Oh yeah. It was genius." Tahni narrowed her eyes at his sarcasm and he held his hands up innocently, "So, to what do I owe the honour of your attempt at destruction?"

"I have to have a reason to come see my best buddy?" Tahni widened her eyes innocently and Glenn shook his head, carefully putting his clothes back in his suitcase, "Of course not. I should warn you though, I'm expecting Mark." Tahni squeaked and fell off the bed, before quickly righting herself and looking around frantically, "I gotta go see DiBiase."

"Uh-huh." Glenn smirked, watching as she bolted out of the room. Five minutes later, there was a knock at the door and Mark walked in. He stopped just inside and looked around, frowning slightly, "What did you do to your room?" Glenn looked at him and then shook his head, pulling two bottles of beer from the mini-fridge, "It was Tahni." Mark nodded slowly, taking the bottle that was offered to him, before sitting slowly on the bed. He looked over at Glenn with a brooding expression, "How's that going?"

Glenn sighed a little and sat down on the now righted couch, "It's going." Mark patted him sympathetically on the shoulder, before switching the t.v on so that they could watch the game.

Meanwhile, Tahni had located Ted in the gym, attempting to see how far he could run on a treadmill backwards. Tahni decided to join in, but her balance wasn't exactly great and she fell off almost instantly, then kicked Ted in the leg, causing him to fall off too. He hit the ground with rather more force than she had and smacked his elbow off the edge of the treadmill. "Owwwwww!" He rolled around on the floor, clutching his elbow. Tahni was torn between laughed and dismay. The commotion sent two of the trainers running over to them to see what was wrong, fearful that one of the WWE Superstars had injured themselves whilst training in their gym. They could almost smell the lawsuit.

It quickly became apparent that there was nothing wrong with Ted apart from a bruised ego and bumped elbow. They were not impressed, so our duo decided that it might be a good idea to make a swift exit. Ted pouted as they left, "I was having a perfectly good workout before you arrived." Tahni looked at him and then slapped his elbow, causing him to howl in pain again, "Shut up, Ted."

Ted mimicked her in a high-pitched voice and then jerked his arm out of the way as she swung for him again. "Ha! Loser!" He grinned at her smugly and she narrowed her eyes, before launching herself at him and jumping on his back, before proceeding to slap him repeatedly on the forehead. Ted, rather than shove her off, ran headlong down the corridor, towards the lobby, with her still on his back, screaming like a little girl. "Get it off! Get it ooooooofffffff!"

* * *

"Glenn! Hi, it's Tahni."

"_Where are you?"_

"Um…well, here's the thing-"

"_I got told you got thrown out of the hotel."_

"Ah. Yeah, that's the thing."

"_What did you do?"_

"Well, DiBiase and I were just goofing off. We may have broken a window…and a potted plant… and maybe caused a minor traffic accident. It was totally blown out of proportion, though." Tahni could almost hear Glenn rolling his eyes, but she knew he wouldn't be mad at her. However, it did take him a long time to reply.

"_Randy's looking for you."_ Tahni frowned, glancing over at Ted who was checking into the new hotel. She chewed on the inside of her lip for a few moments, before sighing and running a hand over her short hair. "Well, just tell him that we're at the Tarrytown and I'll call him later."

"_I don't think he's gonna wait. He seemed pretty steamed up when I saw him."_ Tahni sighed again and rubbed at her eyes. She didn't really want to see Randy right now. She wanted some distance, some time to herself. "Then tell him you don't know where I am and deny all knowledge."

"_Tahni-"_

"Please, Glenn. For me."

"_Alright, but you owe me."_

"Thanks, big guy." Tahni smiled and then saw Ted waving her over, so quickly ended the call. She wandered over to him and folded her arms. "This is entirely your fault y'know." Ted opened and closed his mouth mutely for a few moments and then shook his head, "Nuh-uh! You broke my elbow!"

"Your elbow's fine."

"Is not. Look, I have a bruise."

"That's dirt."

"It's a bruise, I tell you!" Tahni reached over and scrubbed Ted's elbow with her fingers and watched as the 'bruise' disappear. Ted stared at the newly clean patch of skin with wide eyes, "Well, whaddya know." Tahni rolled her eyes, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to my room."

"Can I come?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You smell bad."

"I do not!"

"Do."

"Don't!"

"Do."

"Don't!"

"DiBiase, you stink. Deal with it."

"I do not stink!"

"I beg to differ."

"I don't respond to begging."

"I bet you hear that a lot, huh?" Tahni smiled pleasantly, as Ted just gaped at her, then waved and grabbed her bags and headed to her room. She sat on her bed and thought about her situation. She couldn't avoid Randy forever. They had a show that night and avoiding him at the arena was going to be impossible. She needed to figure out what she was going to say to him. It occurred to her then, that she'd never had to pre-plan conversations with him before. This time though, she knew he'd be mad. He'd be expecting her to return to the hotel room and when he found out that she'd gone and gotten herself thrown out of the hotel altogether, he was going to be fuming. She couldn't handle another argument today.

It frustrated her that they spent all of their time bickering these days, she wanted to be able to stop it, to not say the words that she knew would flare his temper, but she seemed unable to stop herself and with Randy having a serious sense of humour malfunction, it was a recipe for disaster. Glenn was the only person she could really talk to now and she knew that was wrong. It should have been Randy that she told everything to, that she explained it all to, but it wasn't. She knew in the back of her mind that it would be more helpful to her relationship if she told Randy that some of the things he said were hurtful or expressed her concerns over the problems they were having, but she didn't want to risk upsetting him. So, she told Glenn instead. He seemed to understand, he certainly never told her to be quiet and always seemed pleased to see her. He was her bright point, right now. The good thing in her life.

Ted was easy to be around. He amused her and she amused him. Their friendship wasn't close and they never talked about the important things, but it made her feel better to hang out with him. It made her feel normal. Cody was a similar case, though they didn't see one another very often any more. Cody had a new girlfriend that everyone hated, so he didn't hang out with them very much. That made Tahni a little sad. She had a lot of good memories with Cody. They had spent a lot of time alone, pretending to be a couple and it had given them time to really get to know each other and know what made the other tick. She couldn't say she had that kind of relationship with anyone else. Even Glenn, because as close as she was to him, he was a pretty closed book. He didn't let her into his mind very often and kept his thoughts to himself.

She was so deep into her thoughts that the sound of her cell ringing almost gave her a heart attack. She jumped half a foot off the bed, then pulled the offending object from her pocket and looked at the screen. Randy. She sighed and switched it to answer phone, feeling a twinge of guilt as she did so.

* * *

"Making her way to the ring, from Jacksonville, Florida; Tahni!"

Tahni burst out from the behind the curtain, and greeted the crowd. She looked down the ramp to the ring, where Natalya was waiting for her with a nasty look on her face. Here was a woman who'd been waiting to get her hands on Tahni for quite some time. Tahni had never figured out exactly why Natalya hated her so much, but it made going into this match a little more nerve-wracking than usual. It was a non-title match, so it should have been fairly straight forward. The look in Natalya's eyes, suggested otherwise.

Still, Tahni was nothing if not professional and she kept her character as she headed into the ring and braced herself for what was coming.

"_An interesting thing to note as we get into this match, is the slight change we've seen in Tahni over the past few weeks. There's a bit of an edge coming out there."_

"_Very true. The bubbly Florida resident has certainly seemed a little less upbeat lately, much more focused, much more aggressive."_

"_Oh! And there's a prefect example of that with a straight right-hand to the face of Natalya. This is not the kind of offence we are used to from her."_

"_Absolutely not, it's very unusual. Natalya battling back now and you cannot deny the tension between these two. They don't like each other one bit."_

"_Very true. Demonstrated there with a hard clothesline from Tahni, sending Natalya crashing to the mat."_

"_I remember when Tahni first started wrestling alongside Randy Orton and the change we saw in her then, the use of underhanded tactics that we saw from her, but she came back from that. She sharpened up her act, but is it possible that she's heading back in that direction again?"_

"_Could be. Could be. Ouch! Nasty kick to the head from Natalya and Tahni now doesn't seem to quite know where she is."_

"_Definitely a somewhat glazed look in Tahni's eyes as she pulls herself up."_

"_Natalya not giving her any room to recover and a nice suplex there. Tahni motionless on the mat. Natalya goes for the cover."_

"_One…two…Tahni kicks out at two."_

"_That had to just be on instinct, though. That kick seems to have completely knocked her out on her feet."_

"_Wait, what is this?"_

The sound of the bell rang loudly through the arena, as Tahni collapsed in the ring and medics immediately rushed in.

"_The referee has stopped the match, deeming that Tahni was unable to continue. Medics are now in the ring, trying to control and correct the situation."_

"_It's gone very quiet here in the arena. No winning announcement and even Natalya hanging around, wanting to know what's going on."_

"_Let's take another look at the kick to the head, which seems to be have been the cause of what's happening now."_

"_A very, very nasty, painful looking kick indeed. A bad call by Natalya and I'm sure she's gotta be beating herself up over this. She certainly looks extremely worried."_

"_Well, folks, we're going to go to a commercial break now, but we will be back and hopefully with an update on this situation. Stay with us, we'll be right back."_

The show cut to a commercial break, but the crowd in the arena were still watching, horrified as Tahni was braced and put on a stretcher inside of the ring, before being very carefully removed from the public view. She had no idea what was happening. Her tongue felt like it was stuck to the roof of her mouth. She couldn't move and her head felt as if it were ten times the size it should be. Something was missing, she was sure of that. There was something that should have been there that wasn't. She didn't know what it was, but it was upsetting her and if she'd been able to, she would have cried.

She heard voices, quiet sometimes and others sounding like they were screaming in her ear. She thought she heard Randy's voice, low and urgent, but she couldn't be sure. She definitely couldn't make out any words. She was almost certain that she heard Glenn's voice and it reassured her. If Glenn was here, then nothing too bad could go wrong. He would make sure that everything was alright. That was what Glenn did; he made sure she was okay.

She was aware that there seemed to be a great sense of urgency around her, as if everyone was rushing around. There were so many different voices and it was extremely confusing, trying to make sense of them. He tried to focus only on Glenn's voice, but when she tried, she found that it was gone. He was no longer there. This upset her hugely and she wanted to shout for him until he came back because she never felt safe without him.

* * *

"I'm right here, T. It's okay, I'm here. I haven't gone anywhere. T, can you hear me?" Glenn looked into Tahni's vacant eyes and knew she couldn't see him, but she was shouting for him, shouting his name. He gripped her hand tightly as the ambulance flew threw the streets. He didn't know what was going on, all he knew was that this was bad. She was in a really bad way. She showed no signs of responding to visual or aural stimulation. She was either shouting or whimpering and seemed to have no sense of where, who and what she was. The only distinguishable word she had uttered was Glenn's name and that was in a desperate cry that absolutely tore his heart to pieces.

He knew it should have been Randy in his place, but the other man had suggested it would be better if Glenn went along. His friendship with Tahni was much more solid than their relationship had been recently. Glenn sighed and looked at his friend. She'd stopped shouting now and was just lying there, her eyes flicking wildly from side to side without seeing anything of what was around her. It was an indescribable feeling to watch this and know that there was absolutely nothing he could do to help. It was his job to help her, that was what he did. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles lightly, "It'll be alright, Tahni. I promise. You'll be alright." He got no response and all he could do was sit and wish that the ambulance would go faster and get them to a place where there were people who could actually do something for her because she had to be okay. He couldn't deal with the possibility of her not being okay.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So, here it is; Chapter Four . I know I left the last one on a terrible cliffhanger. Sorry about that :D**

**Thanks to: _Sonib89, Christina89 _and _Tenshi no Koneko _for reviewing the last chapter. Much appreciated as always!

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"Mr Jacobs, please. If you continue to raise your voice at my nurses, I will have to ask you to leave. Now, if you'd like to follow me, I think it's best that we go somewhere a little quieter." The doctor had a bracing voice and seemed completely un-intimidated by Glenn's size. He motioned with his arm and then led the way into a small side waiting room. He requested that Glenn sit, but he refused. The doctor seemed to understand that other man's agitation, "The blow to the back of Miss Cauldwell's head has caused a build up of fluid on her brain stem and swelling in her brain. We believe that this is what's effecting her sight and her hearing. We're doing everything we can to reduce that pressure, but we wont know for a while if there has been any permanent damage."

Glenn did sit now. He sank down onto one of the chairs and rubbed his hands down his face and over his head. It could have been worse, he had to keep reminding himself of that. The damage was reversible, at least partially. The doctor watched him with a sympathetic gaze. Tahni had been in assessment for almost five hours, it was late and yet this man had refused to leave. He'd sat here the whole time, patiently waiting to find out what was happening. "We're doing everything we can for her."

Glenn lifted his head and looked at him, then nodded and sighed, standing up and holding out his hand. "Thank you, Doctor." The doctor smiled and shook his hand, before leaving the room and letting Glenn be alone with his thoughts. The silence didn't last long however, as the door flew open, banging loudly against the wall and Ted and Cody appeared, both trying to fit through the door at once and becoming stuck. Glenn just stared at them for a moment, before grabbing them both and forcing them through the door. They both fell onto their faces and looked up at him. Ted grimaced and rubbed his ribs, "Thanks."

They picked themselves up and faced the large man who was staring at them, looking un-amused. Ted seemed to be the bolder of the two, "How is she?" Glenn shrugged and moved away to sit down again. He explained to them what the doctor had told him and watched as both men's faces fell. Cody looked around, spotting the coffee machine in one corner, he took charge of getting them all a cup, needing to be doing something. Ted stood in place, looking lost, before Glenn motioned for him to sit. The three of them did not usually come into very close contact. Tahni was the uniting factor and now they would sit together and wait to learn what would happen to her.

Noticeable by his absence, was Randy. Glenn could not contain the need to know where he was and why he wasn't there with them. Ted seemed to read his mind and sighed, shaking his head. "He wont talk to anyone. He went back to his hotel room and locked himself inside." Cody handed Glenn and Ted their coffees, a dark expression on his face, "I know they've been having a rough time lately, but he should be here." The other two murmured their agreement.

They were silent for a while, before Glenn stood up, moving slowly and feeling the weight of tiredness in his body, "I'm gonna go call Tahni's parents again and see if they managed to get a flight." Cody and Ted watched him go, before looking at one another. Ted was the first to speak, "You think maybe Randy has a point?" Cody rolled his eyes and shook his head, staring into his coffee, "I think that Randy isn't around enough right now to have any right to comment on Tahni's friendships. One thing I'm sure of though; Tahni wouldn't cheat. It's not who she is."

Ted nodded in agreement and then they ran out of things to say and just stared into space. When Glenn returned, he just stared at them. They were now sat on the floor and Cody appeared to be demonstrating a magic trick, which involved three paper cups and a quarter. Glenn lifted his eyebrows as Ted stared in amazement at the empty space beneath the cup he had lifted. Cody grinned smugly and folded his arms. Ted narrowed his eyes and smacked Cody across the side of the head, causing the quarter to fall out from behind his ear. "Ow! Ted!"

"That wasn't magic, that was deception! That's against the law!" Ted scowled at him and then slipped the quarter into his pocket. Cody just rubbed his head and then they both seemed to notice Glenn stood watching them and looked at him sheepishly. They worried for a moment that they were about to be yelled at for their behaviour and for a moment, Glenn thought he was going to yell at them, but instead, he found himself sat on the floor with them, pulling out a matchbook and showing them a trick that Tahni had taught him.

* * *

"Okay…this is weird." Tahni looked around, pretty sure at this point that she was dreaming. She was in a hospital room, which was normal enough in itself, but it was huge, stretching on forever into expanses of just whiteness. She looked down at herself and saw that she was wearing a hospital gown and apparently nothing else. Slowly, she pulled herself out of her bed, pulling the tubes from her arms and around her face and letting them drop. She didn't say anything as she just looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. It was cold and she rubbed her arms to try and stave off the chill, before noticing a thin, cotton robe slung over the end of her bed, which she quickly pulled on.

This was bizarre. Dreaming or not, it was pretty strange. As she tried to get to grips with the strange surroundings, she suddenly experienced a blinding pain in her head, which drove her to her knees. She gripped at her hair, gasping. The pain was so sharp, so severe that it took her voice and her breath. She couldn't make a sound as the pain drove itself through her brain and up and down her neck. She felt like she should have been screaming, but it hurt too much to scream. It hurt too much to do anything except lay on the floor, clutching her head, wishing it would stop.

"Is it sore?" Tahni jerked as the voice invaded her consciousness and lifted her head, squinting through the pain at the hazy figure that had appeared before her. It had to be a child. It sounded like a child and was only small. "Yes, it's sore." She managed to croak out. She forced herself to sit up, still holding her head in one hand. She closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. Then she felt the shock of a tiny, cold hand touching her face and her eyes flew open. She found herself staring into a set of enormous emerald eyes which perfect mirrored her own. "Me too."

The little girl sat down in front of her, tucking her long, black hair behind her ears and crossing her legs. She looked up at Tahni as if expecting something. Tahni frowned, forgetting the pain in her head for a moment. She reached out tentatively and poked the child on the shoulder, causing her to rock back a little, giggling. The child reached forward and poked her back. Tahni felt herself smiling. There was something familiar about this girl, in her long white nightgown, with her fresh peaches and cream complexion and a face that looked as though it smiled easily.

"So, let me see if I can figure this out. You're meant to be my conscience, right?" Tahni lifted her eyebrows. She knew dreams. She knew the kind of ridiculous thing that the mind created. The little girl giggled and shook her head, "That'd be a little too simple. Don't you think?" Tahni rolled her eyes and folded her arms, looking petulant, "Well, who are you, then?" The girl shook her head wisely, smiling gently at her, "Can't tell."

"Well, why not?"

"Secret." The girl seemed to delight in Tahni annoyance at this. She slowly stood up, fiddling absently with her nightdress, before eyeing their surroundings. She suddenly stopped and gasped. Tahni frowned, looking up at her, "What is it?"

"Listen!" The child looked at her fearfully. Tahni listened, but there was no sound, until suddenly the sound of high pitched beeping, regular and deafeningly loud exploded into the air. Tahni yanked herself to her feet, looking around frantically for the source of the noise. She felt her companion suddenly gripping her hand tightly and she gripped back, pulling the child into her side, "I remember…I remember what happened." Tahni looked down at the girl, who was looking up at her with wide, frightened eyes, "Are we dying?"

The question sent a dart of fear through Tahni. Was she dying? She remembered being kicked in the head, she remembered suddenly not knowing where she was or what was happening. She remembered Randy's voice, so close and then it was gone and she remembered Glenn. She knew he would have stayed with her, even after she couldn't hear him any more. She was absolutely certain of that, if nothing else. As she thought of all the things she remembered and all the things she knew, she felt certain that she wasn't dying. She had always thought that when a person died, all memories and understanding began to fade, began to become difficult to grasp, slipping away like smoke through a keyhole.

"No. We're not dying. Here, come and sit up here with me." Tahni lifted the girl onto the hospital bed and then sat beside her, wrapping her arms tightly around her, "We're not dying. I think…I think we might be waking up." The girl began to tremble slightly and shook her head, before suddenly grasping Tahni's face and looking at her intensely, "Don't forget me. Please." Tahni frowned and gripped the child's arms, as if to reassure her, but as she did the limbs turned to nothing more substantial than dust. The bed vanished, but she didn't fall, instead she felt herself floating and then air rushing past her, faster and faster. So fast that she couldn't breathe. She tried to fill her lungs, but she couldn't. She felt as if hands were gripping her, holding her arms. She fancied she could hear a voice and then she felt something release and as if surfacing from a long time under water, she gasped in a great lungful of air.

"It's okay. It's okay. Take it easy."

"Randy?" She croaked, feeling it hurt her throat to do so, still breathing raggedly as she tried to bring the world around her into focus. "Yeah, it's me." Gradually his shape came into view, but she couldn't focus on him and that made her panic, "What's wrong with my eyes?" She lifted her hands to rub at them, but Randy grabbed her hands gently, "They said that your vision would be blurry for a while."

"What happened?" She frowned, still trying to get her eyes to focus without success. Frustration began to colour her tone. She heard Randy sigh gently, "Natalya kicked you. Don't you remember?" Tahni shook her head, but something stirred in her mind. The dream which had been fresh only moments ago had all but faded now, though she was certain there was something important about it that she needed to cling to. Her mind turned to the match. She didn't remember the kick, the last thing she remembered was just the usual rush of being in a match and the quiet knowledge that Natalya was being extremely brutal with her, as an expression of her off-screen dislike.

She remembered a feeling of panic, voices fading in and out and a total, impenetrable darkness. She tried to shake off the residual feeling, but still being unable to see clearly was effecting her ability to do that. "Where's Glenn?" The question rolled out automatically. Glenn always made her feel safe. She didn't think that it might have implications. She couldn't see the wince that crossed Randy's face and the sadness in his gaze. "He's in the waiting room with Ted and Cody. I'll get them for you." She may not have been able to see, but she could certainly hear in his tone that all was not well. She reached out blindly, grasping in the direction she guessed his hand was. He saw what she was doing and clasped her small fingers in his own larger ones. She let out a small noise of relief and shook her head, "Stay. Please, I want you here. I can talk to the others later."

"I should at least call the nurse." His heart wasn't in it. He was too pleased that she wanted only him for the moment to really wish there were anyone else there. Tahni shook her head and a small smile appeared on her face, "I'm not about to expire, I'm quite certain of that. Just…talk to me."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Well, I figure talking to someone about serious stuff is easier when they can't see you, so maybe you should tell me what's really bothering you."

"I don't know what you mean." Randy tried to pull his hand away, but she kept a firm grip on it, a frown once more furrowing her brow, as her eyes looked half-blind in his direction, "Randy, please. Don't treat me like an idiot. How can I help if you wont talk to me?"

There was a long, pregnant silence, in which Randy considered her request. She was right, it would be easier when he knew she couldn't see him, but still he was reluctant. It seemed so foolish in many ways and he didn't want her to think badly of him. He sighed and bowed his head, drawing her hand up to his mouth and kissing her knuckles gently, "I love you."

Tahni smiled briefly and slowly lifted her other hand, feeling her way until she found his face and rested her palm against his cheek, "I know. That has never been the issue, has it? Tell me."

"I've been jealous."

"Jealous?" Tahni's hazy eyes widened with shock, "Jealous of what?" Randy rubbed his free hand over his head, feeling his neck and face growing a little hot, "Your…friendship with Glenn. It's not normal, Tahni. You're together all the time and you have all these little in jokes. You're closer to him than me and it bothers me. I look at you together and think that sometimes you'd be better off with him."

Tahni spluttered a little as he first began to speak, but quickly grew quiet again. She closed her eyes and rested back against the pillows, letting her hand slip from his face. Randy would have thought that she'd fallen asleep if it weren't for the steady pressure on his hand from hers. He thought she might never speak, he supposed it was a lot to take in. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, it was just that he wanted to be as close to her as Glenn was, he wanted to be able to understand her like he did.

"Come here." Tahni beckoned him closer, her eyes opening again. He leant forward a little, but she motioned him closer until his face was only inches from her and then without warning she smacked him across the back of the head as hard as her limited strength could manage. He yelped and jerked back, staring at her, "What was that for?"

"Being so stupid!"

"Stupid? You can't deny that I'm right!"

"Right? Glenn is my best friend and yes, we spend a lot of time together, but how can you say he's closer to me than you? Ask Glenn how old my brother is. Ask him what my favourite childhood memory is, or where I went to school. Ask him what films make me cry and how I like to be kissed. Ask him who I talk about almost every second of the time I spend with him!" As Tahni's voice had grown louder and more irate, Randy had felt the guilt growing inside of himself. Tahni let out a heavy sigh and grasped his hand in both of hers, "Randy, I love you and I love Glenn, but in totally different ways. I can be serious with you. I can tell you everything that really matters to me, everything that hurts me and I know you'll make it better. Glenn lets me hide from that. Being around him is easy, it's lighter and less intense. He's my best friend because he doesn't question me, because there are no difficult questions with him and sometimes I need that. How could you ever think I'd be better with him than you?"

"I'm sorry."

"You should be."

"I am."

"Well, good."

"How can I make it up to you?"

"Um…could you call a nurse? My head is really hurting." Randy immediately jumped up, having completely forgotten about her delicate state and how the agitation might have effected her. He left the room quickly and returned a few moments later with a nurse in tow.

* * *

"Ted!"

"What?"

"I'm not totally blind, y'know. I can still see what you're doing." Ted immediately stopped gyrating in front of her and froze. He glanced over at Cody and Glenn, who rolled their eyes at him, "They said you couldn't see!"

"I can only see a bit. I can see shapes."

"You lied to me!" He pointed dramatically to Glenn and Cody, both of whom shrugged and grinned at him. They were all sat around in Tahni's hospital room. She had been moved to the very end of the hall due to the abnormal amount of visitors and how late they always stayed. The staff had tried to get them to leave, but the three of them and Randy seemed to have decided that she needed to be watched twenty-four hours a day and didn't necessarily trust the hospital staff to do that. It was completely ridiculous, of course, but it was difficult to argue with four burly wrestlers, one of whom was the size of a small house.

Tahni laughed lightly at Ted's outrage and turned her head in Glenn and Cody's direction. "Did you bring me a new book?"

"Yeah, Glenn picked one out for you."

"It's Cody's turn to read, though." Glenn piped up and Tahni could hear the smug grin on his face and she titled her head curiously.

"I'm not reading it!"

"Oh, yes you are." Glenn's tone had turned threatening and Tahni chuckled, shaking her head, "Is it that bad?"

"It's called; Passionate Rea and the Lord of Loose Trousers." Glenn answered, which set Tahni and Ted into fits of giggling. A stony silence came from Cody. Eventually they quieted and Tahni looked in Cody's direction, "Well, come on then. I'm looking forward to this."

"I am not reading it." He answered stubbornly and Tahni pouted at him, looking as sad as she possibly could, "But Cody, I can't read. I can't even see. Will you deny me my literary pleasure? Would you do that to me? I almost died."

"Alright! Alright! Enough with the guilt trip." Cody grumbled. Ted sat down on the end of Tahni's bed and once they were all settled, the sound of rustling paper filtered into the air, before Cody reluctantly began to read, "Of all the beauties in the land, there were none more stunning than the passionate princess, Rea. Sadly, for all her beauty, she was neglecting by her husband, the known philanderer, Lord Michael. It was said that he kept his trousers loose at all times so that he could drop them at a moments notice to pursue and amaze young ladies with his magnificent manhood.

Despite it and his impressiveness, the marriage between Rea and Michael had never been consummated and the young woman grew restless, wanting her body to be used for it's purpose. She had been blessed with luscious blonde locks, which curled steadily over her shoulders and back and eyes that were such a blue that no words had been invented to describe them adequately.. She wore tight corsets and low-cut bodices to enhanced her sizeable bosom within the fine encasings of her expensive dresses. She did all she could to entice her wandering husband, but to no avail and so she was forced to look outside of her marriage to find the release that her loins so desperately needed."

Tahni, Ted and Glenn all suddenly looked towards Cody, who had a sick look on his face. Tahni frowned, "Why did you stop?"

"I am not reading this garbage."

"Keep reading!" Ted's voice piped up this time and it was extremely enthusiastic as well, which caused the attention to now turn in his direction. He coughed a little and huddled down slightly, trying to avoid their gazes. Cody rolled his eyes and sighed heavily, before he continued reading.

He'd been reading for several hours, to an apparently rapt audience, when the door opened. Tahni immediately looked around and smiled, "Randy."

"How'd you know? Are your eyes better?"

"No. You overuse your aftershave. I could smell you coming down the hall." Tahni smirked in his direction and he made a face, though he knew she couldn't see him. He looked around at the others. His eyes lingered for a moment on Glenn and the two men looked at each other in a manner that was decidedly unfriendly, before he broke contact and focused on the book in Cody's hands, "New book?"

Cody held it up and Randy snickered at the title, before moving to lay on the bed beside Tahni, laying an arm over her shoulders. She wriggled down a little to rest her head on his chest, blissfully unaware of the daggers Randy and Glenn were once again sending each other. All she heard was Randy's voice as he addressed Cody again, "Don't mind me. I'm all for quality literature. Continue."

Cody looked at him sulkily, before beginning to read once more.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry this took a while, been very, very busy. Got a book coming out in July and I'm in the middle of editing it, so everything a bit mad. **

**Thanks so much to _Tenshi no Koneko, Sonib89, Christina89 _and _xxxRKOEnigmaxxx _for reviewing the last chapter. Your support is hugely appreciated, as always :)

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**

"This is ridiculous. I am not having this conversation with you."

"I'm not done yet!"

"I don't care! Listen carefully, Orton, because I will say this only once more; Tahni is not your property and I was her friend long before you even registered in her life, so back off!" Glenn left a lingering glare, before stalking out of the hotel suite and slamming the door. Randy scowled after him, then swore under his breath and ran a hand down his face. If word of this got back to Tahni he was going to be in big trouble.

He was being unreasonable and he knew that, but the feeling wouldn't shake. Especially since Glenn had appointed himself as Tahni's personal minder until her eyesight got back to normal. The only saving grace in Randy's mind was that it was improving every day and the doctors expected it to be back to normal within a week. Her balance was still off, but she'd always been clumsy, so it was barely noticeable.

He sat down heavily on the couch and stared at the door, as if expecting Glenn to walk back through the door at any moment. It was quite a shock to his system when it did open, but he relieved to see that it wasn't Glenn, instead it was Tahni, Ted and Cody. Ted had a hold of Tahni's hand, but she seemed to be trying to get him to let go, shaking her arm and squirming, "Lemme go. I am perfectly capable."

"No, no. You're blind."

"I am not blind! I can see well enough now."

"Nope. Blind." Ted smirked at her in a smug fashion, then yelped in pain as Tahni whacked him across the ribs with her free hand. He instantly released her and rubbed his side. "Ow, okay, you're not blind!"

"I was aiming for your face." Tahni grumbled. Cody snickered, before noticing Randy sat on the couch watching them. He lifted a hand in greeting, "Hey, Randy."

"Hi." Randy got to his feet and approached them, dropping a kiss on Tahni's cheek. She beamed at him, but it only lasted a few seconds, before a slight frown twitched at her brow, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, why do you ask?" Randy tilted his head, hiding his frustration that even with less than perfect eyesight, she seemed to instinctively know if something was bothering him. His voice was light, though and gave no indication to anything being wrong. Tahni just gazed at him for a few moments, taking in the features that she couldn't quite bring into focus, but that she knew so well. She knew the muscle that was ticking persistently in his jaw and the set of his shoulders. She also knew that he wasn't going to tell her, so she decided to drop it. "Never mind. Hey, Ted, where's my coffee?"

"What coffee?"

"The one you're making me."

"I'm making you coffee?"

"You are? Oh, that's so sweet! Milk, no sugar!" She grinned at Ted, who scowled sulkily, but traipsed into the kitchenette.

The only reason that Tahni and Randy had a suite was because of Tahni's health and once she was given the all-clear, they'd be back to regular hotel rooms, so Ted and Cody had been hanging out a lot and taking as much advantage of it as possible.

Cody had sidled off and sat on the couch. Tahni sent one last glance in Randy's direction, before sitting beside him. She peered at the book in his hands, before letting out a snort of laughter, "I can't believe you're still reading that!"

Cody whacked her over the back of the head with the book, "Shh! Don't tell anyone."

"Yeah, because no-one can see you sitting here reading it in plain view."

"Hiding in plain sight and all that." Cody shrugged and stuck his nose back into the book. Tahni rolled her eyes and sat back more comfortably. She jumped a little as her cell began to sing from her pocket and yanked the offending object out. She squinted at the screen, but although she could see a name, she couldn't quite make it out. She wrinkled her nose in annoyance and answered, "Hello?…Oh, hi!…Why, what did I do?…Oh, okay. Yeah, I'll be right there." She hung up and then got to her feet, "Hold the coffee, Ted!" She shouted towards the kitchenette, though there was really no need.

Randy was looking at her quizzically, "You're going out again?" She nodded, shoving her phone back into her pocket. She walked over to him and tip-toed to kiss him lightly, "Glenn wants to see me." Randy's mouth turned down a little and his eyes tightened, but Tahni pretended not to notice. "Do you want me to walk you?"

"No, no. I'll be fine. I don't know how long I'll be, but if I don't come back, then I'll meet you at the arena." She kissed him again, before waving to the others and leaving. She walked carefully, paying close attention to where she was going, knowing that her eyesight and balance weren't exactly on her side. As she walked, she let her thoughts wander. It hadn't escaped her notice that there was a weird tension going on between Randy and Glenn, but she didn't know where it was coming from. Ted and Cody refused to discuss it or played ignorant, which annoyed her no end. Glenn and Randy themselves were acting as if there was nothing going on, but Tahni wasn't stupid. It was quite insulting that both her best friend and boyfriend underestimated how well she knew them and thought that she wouldn't notice there was something up.

She'd considered confronting them both about it, but she suspected that would cause more problems than it would solve. She wanted to get better before she stirred up any more trouble. Her concentration levels weren't quite back to normal yet and she couldn't deal with too much stress. She was determined, however, that once she was back to fighting form, she was going to bash their heads together until someone told her the truth.

She was so deep in thought that she almost walked right past Glenn's room and probably would have done, had he not been stood there waiting for her. He reached out and gently grabbed her arm, "This way, T." Tahni could hear the amusement in his voice and stuck her tongue out at him. He smiled and held the door open for her to walk inside. "How is your sight?"

Tahni shrugged and rocked her hand back and forth in a 'so-so' motion. Glenn nodded and walked to the table on which was sat his coffee pot. He poured them both a cup. "And the concentration?"

"It's getting there, but let's face it, I was never much good at focusing on things, so I'm not hoping for miracles." Tahni said in a dismissive tone as she rifled through Glenn's sports bag to find the small pile of comics that always lined the bottom. Glenn noticed and smirked a little, "I'm not reading comics to you."

"Why not"? Was the whined reply. Glenn laughed and shook his head, "I wanted to talk to you about something important."

"Uh-oh, that's never good." Tahni teased him. This was met with silence, which was more worrying to her than any reply he could have given. She frowned, "Oh." Glenn sighed and guided her to sit on the couch, though she didn't really need that much help. She allowed it, taking the cup of coffee that he offered her and cradling it carefully in her hands. Glenn fussed around for a few more moments, with Tahni growing steadily more impatient. She sighed and scowled over at him, "Would you stop and just tell me already?"

She heard Glenn let out a heavy sigh, before he came and sat down beside her. She instantly placed her coffee down on the table and turned to face him, tucking one of her leg underneath her. They were silent for a while, just looking at each other. Tahni's face was etched with concern, whilst Glenn's was tight with anxiety over her reaction to what he was going to tell her. He tried to think of a way to start, but the few ideas that came to him were quickly dismissed. In the end, he just opened his mouth and let whatever was going to come out, come out; "Tahni, you'd be okay without me, wouldn't you?"

Tahni's frown deepened as she tried to figure out what he could mean beyond the question. She shook her head, disturbed by the very thought, "No. Not even a little bit. Who else would I annoy?" She attempted to lighten the heavy atmosphere, but she could focus on enough of Glenn's face to see that this was not the answer he had wanted. She reached out and lopsidedly grasped his hand. "Glenn, just tell me what's going on. Please."

Glenn searched her face for a moment, before nodding. He looked down at their joined hands and hated himself. "I'm taking a hiatus."

"What?"

"A hiatus. A break."

"I know what a hiatus is. What are you talking about? A hiatus from wrestling?" Tahni frowned at him, not yet fully comprehending, or at least not wanting to, what he was saying.

"Yes, from wrestling. I'm going to go home for a while."

"How long's a while?"

"Six months. Maybe more. I don't know yet."

"Why?"

"I just need to."

"You just need to?" Tahni shook her head, lifting a hand to rub at her eyes, laughing dryly, "That's the best you can come up with? You're leaving and you wont even tell me why? Me. Your best friend. Remember?" Glenn stood up abruptly and paced a little way from her, "I know, Tahni, but this isn't about you. I need to think about just me for a while."

Tahni followed him to his feet, grasping for his hand again, gripping it tightly, "Maybe, I can help. I know something's been bothering you, but I didn't want to pry. I want to help. Please."

"You can't help, Tahni. Not you." Tahni let her hand drop from his, half in shock and half in confusion, "Not me? What does that mean?"

"It doesn't mean anything."

"Oh, I think it does."

"It was a slip of the tongue."

"I don't think it was." Tahni said quietly, staring at him, frowning at him in an almost accusatory way. She knew he was keeping something from her. Not just keeping something in general, but specifically from her. She'd done something, something had changed and now he wouldn't tell her what. "When are you leaving?"

Glenn looked at her, hating the hurt that he could see in her face. She didn't understand and he knew that, but she couldn't and he couldn't put that burden on her, "In an hour."

"An hour?" Tahni choked on the question. He was leaving in an hour and he'd only just decided to tell her? She wanted to cry, but that would completely irrational. She just couldn't imagine not seeing him every day. She ran a hand down her face, to try and snap herself back into focus. She could feel her mind trying to drift and if she let it, she'd end up completely misplacing the conversation. "W-when did you decide?"

"A few days ago."

"And you're telling me this now? You've known all this time and you only decided to tell me an hour before you leave?"

"I'm sorry, T. I just couldn't think how to tell you. I know I promised I'd be here til you got better, but you're almost there and you have the others to watch over you. It's not like we'll never speak to each other. I'll call you, all the time." Tahni was nodding as he spoke and he could see that she was taking deep breaths, trying to control her reaction. She'd never been any good at it. That was one of the wonderful things about Tahni, she wore all of her emotions right out there on her sleeve and hid nothing from anyone. "Come here." Tahni didn't move in response to the summons and Glenn sighed, repeating himself more insistently, "Come here." This time he reached for her and drew her into the large circle of his arms, holding her small frame against his much bigger one. He cradled her head in one of his hands and sighed, resting his chin on her electric blue hair, "It's not forever, T. I just need some time to myself."

"So, take me with you."

"By myself, T. That means alone."

"You can be alone with me there." Glenn chuckled as she protested petulantly. He moved to hold her at arms length, "I'm only ever a phone call away. You need me, T-Bird and I'll come running. You know that, right?" Tahni nodded and then hugged him again as forcefully as she could manage, burying her face in his chest and mumbling into it, "I love you, Glenny."

"Yeah, T. Me too." Glenn sighed and hugged her close, knowing it would be a while before they'd be this close again.

* * *

"Is she still in there?"

"Yep."

"You think she's died or something?"

"I doubt it."

"Should we go in?"

"Only if you want to die."

Unbeknown to Ted and Randy, Tahni could hear the whispered conversation taking place outside of her door. She hadn't gone to the arena the previous night, needing some time alone and she hadn't emerged from her bedroom all day. By now news had spread that Glenn had had been given temporary leave form his contract and it hadn't taken the others long to figure out that it was this that was causing Tahni's prolonged absence from their company.

It bothered Randy that she was taking it so hard, but he knew that it was just his own insecurity that was causing it. He knew that Glenn hadn't told Tahni about their argument that day before, because he was certain that if he had, then she would have immediately confronted him about it. The little that he had been able to speak to her, she just seemed sad at the prospect of not seeing her best friend every day. The part of him that was more rational could understand it.

Both Ted and Randy suddenly jumped back and tried to look innocent as the bedroom door open and Tahni emerged. She was dressed in sweat pants and a baggy t-shirt, her blue hair standing up in all directions. She went straight to Randy and wrapped her arms around his waist. He hugged her close and kissed the top of her head, "You okay, babe?" She nodded silently, before looking at Ted and frowning.

"What?" Ted lifted his eyebrows at her and she moved back from Randy a little to glance around before looking back at him, "Where's my coffee?"

"Y- huh?"

"Coffee. It's a kind of dark brown coloured drink, usually hot, full of caffeine."

"I know what coffee is, woman!"

"So, why aren't you making me one?" She tilted her head at him and he scowled at her, "You're lucky you're so small or I'd squish your head." He wandered off grumbling and Tahni smiled, before looking up at Randy. "I'm sorry I've been weird. I just…it's going to be strange with him not being around." Randy nodded in understanding and hugged her tightly for a moment, "I'm sure he'll be back soon enough."

"Hope so." Tahni doubted that Glenn would be returning any time soon, but she was determined that he wouldn't be given time to forget her. She fully intended to call him every single day and harass him.

"You want me to get you anything?" Randy asked gently. With Glenn gone, it was a chance to sort their relationship out once and for all. There was nothing to get in the way now. The jealousy was ridiculous and he knew that because even if Glenn had…certain feelings for Tahni, she certainly didn't echo them and in his heart Randy knew that. She no eyes for any other man.

"No, thanks. I just wanna be around you guys for a while before we leave." Tahni sent him a small smile. She looked so sad. So vulnerable and Randy just wanted to scoop her close and hold her tightly to make all the bad things go away. He knew he couldn't, though and that she'd move on from this soon enough. Out of sight was out of mind and it wouldn't take long for her to get distracted again, especially since she was due to be cleared for work again soon.

"Oi, Cauldwell, here's your coffee." Ted reappeared and held the coffee out for Tahni. She smiled at him and took it, "Thanks." She moved to sit on the couch and Ted followed her, but rather than sitting beside her, he dropped down on the floor beside her legs and looked up at her, before resting his head on her thigh, "Are you feeling better now?"

Tahni chuckled and nodded, cradling her coffee cup carefully, "Yes, thank you, Ted." Ted nodded and then turned to look in the direction of the t.v. He shuffled towards the coffee table on his butt and grabbed the remote, flicking the television set on. "Hey, look! It's last week's Smackdown."

"We've seen this already."

"So?"

"So, I don't wanna see it again."

"Oh, come on. There's nothing else on."

"You didn't even look!"

"I have the remote, therefore the decision is mine."

"It's my hotel suite!"

"Not just yours. It's Randy's too and I bet Randy wants to watch Smackdown." Ted looked over expectantly at Randy, who was busy shoving some things into a bag. He didn't look at either of them and shook his head, "What I'd really like is for you two to pack your stuff. We have a flight to catch later. Remember?"

* * *

"Eurgh, I feel siiick."

"It was just a little turbulence, Ted."

"A little? Damn plane almost fell outta the sky!"

"Don't be so dramatic." Tahni rolled her eyes as she tugged on her thick, woolly jacket. Randy helped her, before yanked a hat down over her hair. She wrinkled her nose at him and he grinned, tapping her on the nose with a gloved finger. He grabbed their bags and then they both looked at Ted, "Um…Ted, don't you wanna put your coat on?"

"Eurgh. I feel too sick. I'll bear it."

"But Ted it's-" Tahni didn't have time to finish as Ted stepped outside of the Calgary airport and onto the street. They watched as he stood there for a couple of seconds without moving, before he screamed like a girl and ran back inside. Tahni smirked and finished her sentence, "Minus thirty degrees outside." Ted was scrabbling around in his bag, before ripping out two sweaters and a large coat.

It took a while, but they eventually convinced him to go back outside so that they could catch their cab. He sat in the back seat, wedged between Randy and Tahni, complaining about how cold it was. Tahni just laughed at him, whilst Randy swore very loudly because he kept getting jabbed in the ribs by Ted's elbows.

It was something of a relief when they got to the hotel. Ted half shoved Randy out of the cab and ran inside, without waiting for his bags. Tahni found him stood with his legs resting against a storage heater that was tucked down the side of the reception desk, glaring at the harassed looking receptionist, "Sir, that heater is not intended for public use. If you require extra heating I can have one sent up to your room."

"I want this one!"

"Ted!" Tahni shook her head as she approached. "Give the woman her heater back."

"But, I'm coooold!"

"You'll be unconscious if you don't stop creating." Randy arrived behind Tahni and Ted scowled at him, before moving away from the heater and throwing a dirty look at the receptionist, who was looking at Tahni and Randy gratefully.

"Any idea what time Cody's getting in?" Tahni asked as she and Randy made their way up to their suite. Randy shrugged, nudging the button for the elevator with his elbow, "Dunno. The weather report said there's a snowstorm moving in. I just hope his flight doesn't get cancelled or he will be pissed."

"Pissed isn't the word." Tahni snorted, pushing her hair out of her eyes. It needed cutting desperately, it was almost touching her shoulders down. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had long hair. It was too strange. She'd had no-one to remind her about it, though. Everything had been a little crazy lately. She was hoping that things would start to go back to normal now, though. However, she did doubt how normal things could get without Glenn being around.

She'd noticed that Randy seemed more relaxed than he had before and she suspected that that was as much to do with Glenn's absence as anything else. She didn't mention it, though. She knew it wouldn't help matters. There would be a time to figure out what had happened between Glenn and Randy and what had triggered Glenn's sudden departure, but it wasn't now. Perhaps for the moment, some separation was what they all needed.

* * *

Glenn put his feet up on the glass coffee table, staring at the large television screen and lifted his beer to his lips. It was nice to be home, to be surrounded by familiar things, but it wasn't what he had hoped it would be. He didn't feel any better. If anything he felt worse. He kept expecting to turn around and see Tahni, then had to remind himself that this was the one place in his world where Tahni didn't exist. He sighed and leaned forward to place his beer on the table, before relaxing back.

His cell rang at that moment and he grunted a little as he pulled it from his pocket. He half hoped that it would be Tahni and felt a dart of disappointment when he saw that it was actually Mark. He flipped it open, "Hey, man. What's up?"

"_Just wanted to see how you're doing."_

"I'm good. Enjoying the time at home, y'know?"

"_Remember who you're talking to, boy. Still driving yourself crazy, huh?"_

Glenn laughed without any mirth and sighed, "Yeah. Pretty much."

"_I know how that goes. We've all been there. It's a merciless thing, my friend."_

"Yeah, I'm learning that."

"_Listen, Michelle and I were gonna come by this weekend if you're free."_

"Um…sure. It's kinda out of your way, though."

"_Don't worry about that. You need some man-time and 'Chelle wants to go shopping in Knoxville. We can spill a few drinks and complain about our love lives…Or, your lack of one."_

"Yeah…thanks for that."

"_I'll see you Friday."_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N For those who've been asking, information about the book I've got coming out can be found on my profile :) I really appreciate all the interest in it.**

**Thank you to; _Sonib89, xxxRKOEnigmaxxx, Leelan Jacobs, Christina89 _and _Tenshi no Koneko _for reviewing the last chapter. Hope this lives up to your expectations.

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Glenn traipsed to the front door, rubbing his eyes with one hand and adjusting the waistband of his sweats with the other. He squinted at the clock in the hall as he passed. It had only just gone seven and he'd been in the middle of a pleasant dream. Who was hanging on his bell at this ridiculous hour? He opened the door and then grimaced, "When you said Friday, I assumed you meant evening."

"Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups my friend. You gonna let me in?" Glenn stepped aside and watched as Mark wandered into his house. He shut the door and followed his friend into the kitchen. "Coffee?"

"Sure." Mark sat himself at the breakfast bar and watched Glenn moving lethargically around the kitchen. He shook his head and linked his hands loosely in front of him. Glenn flicked the coffee machine on and then glanced over at Mark, "Where's Michelle?"

"Shopping. Where else?"

"Of course. At seven in the morning. Where else could she possibly be whilst reasonable people are in bed?"

"You're cheerful this morning."

"I didn't get much sleep last night." Glenn grumbled as he poured the coffee into the cups. He slid Mark's over to him and then fell into one of the chairs opposite him, rubbing his hands over his head restlessly. Mark adjusted his coffee mug, before looking at Glenn again, "You gonna put a shirt on?"

"Wasn't planning on it."

"Your man breasts are disturbing me."

"I don't have man breasts!"

"You have a better rack than 'Chelle."

"I'll tell her you said that." Glenn threatened and Mark just shrugged. With a sigh, Glenn slouched off upstairs to get changed. He emerged a few minutes later in a pair of faded jeans and a t-shirt. "Better?"

"Much. Now, we need to set out a plan for the day."

"How about, you go home and I go back to bed, then you come back later tonight."

"You're an ungrateful bastard sometimes, you know that?"

"Yes. Go home."

"No dice. Drink up." Mark nudged Glenn's coffee cup closer to him and watched as he raised it to his mouth. Though he'd never admit it, Mark was worried about his friend. Glenn was introspective at the best of times and just lately he'd been even more self-contemplative than usual. Nothing really got to Glenn that he wasn't able to articulate quite easily, so his decision to take a break was completely out-of-character. It was running away and Glenn did not run away.

"Catch the game last night?" Glenn looked up from his coffee and frowned at Mark. "No."

"When was the last time you did catch a game?"

"Hell, I don't remember. Is it important?"

"Yes." The answer was simple and Glenn rolled his eyes. He was still half asleep and definitely not in the mood for conversation. Mark knew this. He knew that Glenn was useless in the mornings. It was a bizarre friendship that they had. Mark didn't trust many people, he certainly didn't make friends with a lot of people, but he and Glenn had been through so much in their careers that it was impossible for them not to be friends. They might not be brothers by blood, but in every other way that mattered, they were. That included annoying the hell out of each other.

"Is now a good time to talk about that girl you seem to spend all of your time with?" Mark enquired quietly. He was greeted by the sound of Glenn's coffee mug hitting the breakfast bar a little harder than required. "No. You want some breakfast?"

"I already ate."

"Well, I'm having breakfast." Glenn grumbled and stood up, heading for the fridge. Mark rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Tahni, get out of bed!"

"Go away!"

"Up!"

"Die!"

"That's not very nice, is it?"

"Nor's your face."

"I thought you liked my face."

"Not at this time in the morning." Tahni yanked the duvet up over her head, trying to ignore Randy. He shook his head and grabbed the bottom of the duvet and snatched it away from her. She squeaked and curled into a ball, pulling the pillow over her face. "Tahni, you have to get up. You've got an appointment."

"No. I'll go later."

"You can't. Get up." He slapped her lightly on the backside and she kicked out at him, catching him on the leg. He grabbed her foot and dragged her bodily off the bed. She screamed and cussed and eventually landed on the floor with a thud. She sat there glaring up at him, her hair falling into her eyes, "I hate you."

"I know." Randy bent down and lifted her up, whilst she wriggled and protested. He sat her on the chair next to the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. Tahni curled up on the chair, planning to go back to sleep.

Moments later Randy re-emerged and rolled his eyes at her. He picked her up again, causing her to once more start squawking and wriggling. He carried her into the bathroom and deposited her, fully-clothed into the shower which he had turned on. Her scream filled the small room and echoed off the walls. She scrabbled to her feet and stood there looking at him with a murderous expression. "I am going to give you three seconds and then I am going to kill you!"

Randy grinned at her and bolted out of the bathroom, pulling the door shut and holding the handle. He heard a bang as Tahni threw herself at the door and then the feel of her pulling on the handle persistently. The language coming out of her mouth would have turned the air blue. Randy chuckled and shook his head, still holding the door. "Shower and get ready, then I'll let you out."

"I hate you, Randy Orton! I hate you so much!"

"Shower, Tahni!"

Randy ignored the glares he was receiving from Tahni and just focused on the road ahead of him. He pulled up outside the clinic and turned to her, "I'll be back to pick you up in one hour."

"I hope you get eaten by frogs." Tahni snapped at him, before grabbing her sports bag and hopping out of the car. He turned his window down and leaned out a little, "I love you!" In response, Tahni flipped him off before jogging inside the building. Randy chuckled and turned the window back up and pulled away. She'd get over it. By the time she got home, she'd have totally forgotten she was mad at him in the first place.

* * *

Glenn pinched the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb and then glanced over at Mark from the corner of his eye, "I do not want to play chess with you."

"Why not?" Mark glared at him as he sat down on one side of the small table which held Glenn's crystal chess set. Glenn rolled his eyes, not budging from where he was sat on the couch, "Because, you suck at chess and you threaten violence on my furniture when you lose."

"I beat you once."

"Never happened."

"I did. It was t-"

"Never. Happened." Glenn shook his head and stood up with a sigh, "Is this what we're going to do all day? Because, I have to be honest, I did not sign up for indulging your childish tendencies simply because you can't show them in public." Mark scowled at him for a moment, before nodding and standing up. For a moment Glenn thought that he'd offended him and that he was going to leave, but instead he just headed for the kitchen. He returned a few moments later with a six pack of beers in his hand.

He sat on the couch, dumping the beers on the coffee table, before grabbing the remote for the tv and flicking it onto the sports channel. He looked at Glenn, "Well, are you going to sit down?" Glenn lifted an eyebrow, not sure where this was going, but he sat down anyway. Mark handed him a beer and then sat back and cracked on of his open, "Okay, here's the rules; Keep one eye on the t.v at all times. No touching. No hugging. No eye contact. Got it?"

Glenn was still a little bewildered, but nodded his head in agreement to the rules that were being laid down. He waited patiently, but Mark just stared at the t.v for a few minutes, before taking a large mouthful of his beer and swallowing it. Then he finally started talking, "Okay, so this problem you have, what are you planning to do about it?" Not once did he look at Glenn as he spoke.

"I uh… I hadn't thought that far ahead." Glenn frowned at his friend, then made a noise of surprise as he felt Mark's hand smack his hard around the back of the head, "Look at the t.v, jackass, or I'm walking." Glenn sighed and peered at the t.v, sipping at his beer thoughtfully.

"You know people find it weird how much you hang out with that girl. Now, I know you don't care and to be quite honest, neither do I, but what I wonder is how unhealthy it is for you."

"Unhealthy?"

"Well, it's a self-inflicted torture, right?"

"Sometimes."

"So, cut her off."

Glenn snorted and shook his head, "Nothing's that simple with Tahni. You don't 'cut her off'. She'd never shut up." Mark rolled his eyes and placed his beer on the coffee table, turning a little more towards Glenn, but still not looking at him, "Do you love her?"

"What?"

"You heard me."

"Sure…it's impossible not to love her."

"That's not what I was asking."

"I know what you were asking, Mark."

* * *

"So?" Randy asked cautiously as Tahni climbed into the car, before throwing her bag on the back seat. She sighed and turned to look at him with big, sad eyes. Randy frowned, "Not another set-back." Tahni shrugged, but her mouth was twitching and Randy narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously, "Are you lying to me, Cauldwell?"

Tahni made an innocent face and mouthed the word 'me', whilst pointing to herself, "Would I lie to you, Randykins?"

"Yes, yes you would." Randy nodded, without a moment's hesitation, earning him a slap across the back of the head, Tahni scowled at him for a moment, before a wide grin spread across her face, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, "I got the all-clear to go back to work."

"Finally!" Randy returned the grin and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her as tightly as he could across the seats. He then sat back and fired up the ignition, "Tonight, we celebrate." Tahni giggled a little and nodded as they sped out of the parking lot. Randy had been right. Tahni had totally forgotten that she was supposed to be made at him.

As soon as they were back at the hotel, she ran off to look for Ted, finding him in the gym. She ran up behind him and jumped on his back, causing him to squeal like a girl and try to shake her off, but he clung on determinedly, "Ah! I'm being mugged! Help! Police! Fire! Rape! Heeeelp!" They were drawing a lot of attention from the other people using the gym, so Tahni clamped her hand down over his mouth, "DiBiase! It's me!"

Ted craned his head around to look at her and his eyebrows went up. Now that she was sure he would scream again, Tahni dropped her hand and then hopped off his back. "Wow, you scream like a girl." She remarked as she straightened her clothes out.

"I do not!" Ted protested immediately and puffed out his chest in an attempt to look more manly. Tahni snorted and shook her head, waving off the impending argument, "Guess what?" Ted was instantly interested in the possibility of a guessing game and launched in with full enthusiasm, "You're pregnant." Tahni stared at him in horror, before shaking her head fervently, "Absolutely, definitely not."

"You're getting married!"

"Be serious."

"Married isn't a good thing?"

"Marriage is a very serious thing. Come on." Tahni shoved him impatiently. Ted put on his thoughtful face, determined to get it right. Moments later he grinned triumphantly, "You're having gender re-assignment surgery!" He said this very loudly and the rest of the gym fell completely silent. Tahni looked alarmed as her gaze flicked around the people who were now staring at them. She then glared at Ted and kicked his shin, hard. "Don't be ridiculous!"

At this moment Cody walked into the gym and spotted them. He smiled at Tahni as he walked past, "Hey, Randy told me you got the all-clear. Congratulations." Tahni saluted him and then turned to look at Ted with her hands on her hips, "You're such an idiot."

Ted looked sad for a moment, before it registered what Cody had said, "Wait, you got the all-clear?"

"Yep. I start training next week." The last part of her sentence was cut out a little as Ted suddenly grabbed her and lifted her off her feet and squeezed her. Her arms were pinned at her sides, so she couldn't get the leverage to wriggle free. "Ted! Can't….breathe…."

Ted didn't hear her. He instead ran out of the room, carrying her in the very uncomfortable position and shouted to anyone that they passed that she had been given the all-clear. Half the people they passed had no idea who they were and one man, who Tahni had never seen before, stopped to congratulate her, despite her strange position and talked at them for about five minutes. It reached the point that even Ted was getting creeped out, so he carried her off again.

He only stopped when he reached her room and was unable to get the door open. He kicked it several times by way of knocking. Randy opened it after a few minutes, a towel thrown around his waist. Tahni, who was still captured, twisted as much as she could in Ted's grasp to look at him, "Hello, lover." Randy lifted his eyebrows, but somehow he wasn't surprised and he just stepped aside to let them in. Ted thanked him and then dumped Tahni unceremoniously on the couch, "Bloody hell, you're fat."

"Hey!" Tahni pulled off her sneaker and threw it at him. Randy smirked and folded his arms, "I've been telling her this since we met. She never listens."

"Fuck you, Orton. You weren't saying that last night." Ted's mouth dropped open and he began to make gagging noises. Tahni pulled of her other sneaker and threw that at him too. "Get out, DiBiase!" Ted pouted, then sulked out of the room. As soon as he was gone, Tahni got to her feet and all but pounced on Randy.

* * *

"This is a terrible football game." Glenn muttered. Mark wasn't talking to him because he kept breaking the rules. They were stupid rules in the first place, in Glenn's opinion, but it didn't stop Mark from being annoyed. Glenn had been trying to engage him in conversation ever since, without success. The only time he'd spoken a word in the last two hours was when Michelle called him to tell him that she had gone back to the hotel, but was going out again.

Glenn looked over at Mark, but he was ignoring him. He chewed the inside of his lip thoughtfully, before he stretched a little and made a face, "Right then…I think I'll phone Tahni." He reached for his cell, but Mark got there first and snatched it away. He then aimed and threw it with amazing precision so that all Glenn could do was watch as it flew through the air and dropped into his fish tank on the other side of the room. He just gaped in silence, before looking over at Mark, "Not cool."

"You are not calling her."

"I have a landline, you know."

"Touch it and I'll break your fingers." Mark had not looked at him once, he was still staring at the t.v, beer in hand. Glenn shook his head. Finally, Mark looked at him, a hard expression on his face, "It's for your own good."

Glenn didn't necessarily believe him, but he wasn't about to argue. He liked his furniture in one piece and Mark was getting stranger and stranger about this whole situation as the hours went by. Glenn accepted that his friend was normally strange anyway, it was just part of the weirdness of their friendship. "So, is this visit going anywhere?"

"You tell me? You made an decisions?"

"I wasn't aware that I was supposed to." Now that Mark seemed to be willing to talk to him again, Glenn was careful to observe the rules quite carefully and didn't make any eye contact and attempted to keep half his attention on the game. Mark sighed as if something he'd said had annoyed him, "Are you going to come back?"

"No, not yet."

"Why?"

"You know why."

"Yes, I do and it's pathetic. Quite frankly."

"Thanks, man."

"You're welcome."

"Is this helping me? I'm not feeling the inspirational pep-talk essence of this."

"Good. It's not meant to a pep-talk."

"Then what is it?" Glenn tried his best not to look over, but couldn't resist a small glance. Mark looked irritated and he sighed, sitting forwards a little, resting his arms on his legs, cradling his beer between his hands, "Look, Glenn, let's be serious for a minute, okay? This…issue, is eating you alive. You have to deal with it. Accept the things that you can't change and focus on the things that you can." Glenn sighed and bowed his head, running his hands over it, probing gently at his skull, which ached a little. After a moment he dropped his hands into his lap and nodded, glancing over at Mark, "Yeah, I know."

* * *

"Whew! Thank you, Randykins. You may go now." Tahni grinned as she wriggled to find a comfortable spot in the middle of the bed. Randy snorted with laughter and shook his head, "I'm so lucky I met you." He leant over and kissed her and she sighed happily against his mouth, wrapping her arms around him and holding him against her. He grinned and leaned back a little, "I thought you wanted me to leave now." She pouted thoughtfully at him, then grinned and kicked off the sheet to wrap her legs around him as well, "Maybe you can stay for a bit longer." Randy smirked and kissed her again.

"AH! My eyes! My eyes!" Tahni and Randy scrambled to cover up as Ted was now trying to run from the room with his hands covering his eyes. He bumped into the frame a few times before he finally managed to break free into the living area. Tahni rolled her eyes and pulled on her jeans and Randy's t-shirt. Randy grabbed a pair of sweats from his suitcase and yanked them on. Tahni looked over at him, a mischievous glint in her eye, "We will continue this later."

Randy just smirked and watched as she bounded out to the living area and proceeded to torture Ted, before wandering off to call Glenn. She frowned as his cell rang out and tried it twice more. Both times there was no answer. She decided to try his house and almost jumped with delight when he answered, "Glenny!"

"_Tahni?"_

"The one and only. How you doing, big guy?"

"_Um…good, yeah."_

Tahni wasn't an idiot, she could tell something was wrong. He wasn't talking to her freely. She frowned a little and leaned against the wall, "Bad time?"

"_Kind of. I've got company."_

"Girl company?" She heard Glenn laugh without mirth and she could imagine his shaking his head. _"No, guy time with Mark."_

"Oh, okay. Well, I just wanted to let you know that I got the all-clear from the doctor."

"_That's great news." _He sounded genuinely pleased, but the enthusiasm that would have normally been there was missing. Tahni decided to give up for the time being and call him back tomorrow. "Okay, well, I'll let you go."

"_Okay."_

"Take care and I'll talk to you soon."

"_Sure. Bye."_ He hung up after that, leaving Tahni feeling a little spurned. She sighed and went back to the living area. She dropped down on the couch beside Ted and rested her head on his shoulder. He seemed to have forgiven the earlier incident and turned his head to look at her, "What's up, Teabag?"

"Glenn's being weird." She pouted quietly. She tried not to mention Glenn too much around Randy, luckily he was in the kitchen at the moment. Ted patted her hair gently and kissed her forehead in an absent, almost automatic kind of way, "Don't worry. I'm sure it's just your whiny voice." Tahni whacked him across the stomach, which set of a wrestling match that resulted in the breaking of the expensive looking coffee table and several bookshelves.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, I've been having some health issues. I hope it's worth the wait. So, I have completely messed with the storyline and rosters for this chapter. I wanted to do my version of the draft before it actually happened, so I think we can safely say that this story is now in it's own, unique timeline :)**

**As always, thank you so much to _Sonib89, xxxRKOEnigmaxxx, Tenshi no Koneko _and _MesshaBlack _for reviewing the last chapter!**

* * *

Tahni and Ted were stood side-by-side with their heads bowed in suitable shame as Teddy Long shouted his disapproval at them. This was the third time they'd been thrown out of a hotel, he said. It brought disrepute on the company, he said. It was bad for business, he said. Both Tahni and Ted had long since lost sight of the funny side of this. They glanced at one another from the corner of their eyes, before Tahni lifted her head and looked directly at Teddy, "We're really sorry."

"Sorry's not gonna fix the stuff you broke, is it? Now, I know you two like to joke around and I'm all up for that, but you're costing the company money and reputation. I got Vince snapping at my ass over this. Now, you give me a good reason not to suspend you both right here."

Ted looked alarmed and shook his head fervently, "We wont do it again. We promise. We'll behave." Teddy sighed heavily and stood up, resting his hands on the surface of his desk and fixing them both with a hard glare, "One more incident and you will both be suspended without pay. Am I clear?" Ted and Tahni both nodded and took this as their dismissal, exiting the room as quickly as they were able. Once they were outside, Tahni whacked Ted on the arm, "This is all your fault."

"My fault? It was your fat ass that broke everything!" Ted protested in a high-pitched voice. Tahni glared at him and shook her head, "You wind me up on purpose."

"Oh and you never do anything to me?"

"No! I am always nice to you!"

"Lies!"

"Truth!"

"Liars don't get into heaven, you know."

"Shut up, Ted." Tahni scowled at him and he glared right back at her. "Hey, you two. I've been looking everywhere for you." Randy strolled over to them, then frowned, "Am I interrupting?"

"Ted's just being an ass."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. I don't see anyone else called Ted around here." Randy watched them argue with raised eyebrows and then shook his head, "Are you finished? Ted, Maryse told me to let you know that she's looking for you." Ted groaned and traipsed off, after glaring at Tahni one more time. Tahni stuck her tongue out at him, then looked at Randy, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I've just been thinking."

"Uh-oh, about what?" Tahni tilted her head curiously, as Randy took her hand and led her down to his locker room, "The draft."

"Oh…I'd totally forgotten about that." She frowned as she walked inside, then turned to Randy, who was looking a little downcast as he sat down. "It's never bothered me much before. I never had any attachment to any particular brand, but it's different now. What if we get separated?" Tahni watched him for a moment, before sitting down beside him, half facing him, "We wont."

"You can't be sure of that."

"Randy, they'd not going to separate us. All we have to do is put in a request to stay on this brand together." Tahni shrugged as if it were so simple and Randy shook his head, "I don't think it's gonna be that easy, T. They only moved me to SmackDown to open up the WWE title for other people, but I haven't had a push for the Heavyweight title and there are clauses in my contract that guarantee me certain pushes. Those pushes might end up with me back on Raw."

"Then I'll go with you. All the higher ups know we're together. They wont pull us apart." Tahni wrapped her arms around his reassuringly, but he wasn't convinced. He had a bad feeling about this draft. They'd find out soon enough. The draft was next week.

* * *

"Randy have you seen my black jeans?"

"They're in the closet, Tahni, where you left them." Randy's voice sounded impatient. Tahni knew it was nerves. She'd never seen him wound so tightly. The draft was tonight. Tahni was still confident that they'd stay together, but she knew Randy was worried about it. She had a pick match against Melina, her first match since her injury. She was trying not to think about it too much, still anxious that her body wasn't quite ready. She'd been cleared by all the doctors and passed all her tests, but she hadn't had a match in almost two months.

She stood in front of the mirror, after pulling on her jeans. She rolled up her tank top and pinched idly at her stomach. At this point Randy walked into the bedroom and lifted an eyebrow at her, "What are you doing?"

"I think I've put on weight." She whined and Randy rolled his eyes. He walked up behind her and wrapped her tiny frame in his arms and kissed the top of her head, "You're perfect." Tahni smiled at him through the reflection of the mirror, then nudged him away and rolled her top back down, "We should go. We have to meet Ted and Cody."

Randy nodded and left the bedroom, with Tahni close behind. She shoved her feet into her sneakers as Randy grabbed both their bags and held the door open for her.

They collected Ted and Cody in the lobby and headed to the arena. The ride was quiet. The boys all seemed to be much more tense than Tahni, all worrying about the draft. The car was practically humming with the tight atmosphere. None of them spoke as they arrived and went in their separate directions.

It was only as Tahni was getting ready, pulling on her rainbow coloured tights, that she began to get a niggling of doubt in the pit of her stomach. She tried to shrug it off as she spiked the back of her short, electric blue hair, but she couldn't help wondering how she'd feel if any of the people she'd become close to were drafted away from SmackDown.

A knock on her door made her almost jump out of her skin and she took a few moments to compose herself, before calling that it was okay to enter. She watched in the mirror as the door opened, expecting Randy or Ted. Her eyes widened into huge green orbs when she saw who walked through, "You!" She stood up and spun around to view him in the flesh. They just stared at one another for the longest time, before Tahni launched herself at him and threw her arms around his enormous frame at the same time as he lifted her up.

Glenn grinned, hugging the tiny woman to him. "Hey, T-Bird. Miss me?" Tahni leaned back in the embrace to look at him and shrugged, "Not even a little bit." They both laughed and Glenn set her carefully back on her feet. They talked without pauses as Tahni finished getting ready. She leaned down to grab her boots, but Glenn had already picked them up and he handed them to her. She smiled and pulled them on, "I'm glad you're back."

Glenn watched her tying the laces clumsily and smirked, shaking his head, "I'm glad I'm back too. And just in time for the draft."

"Perfect timing." Tahni screwed her nose up in distaste as she stood up. Glenn snorted with laughter and helped her into the black vest that she now wore over her rainbow tank top. "I was more concerned about being here for your first match back." Tahni turned to him and grinned, then hopped up to kiss his cheek. He obligingly bent down a little to make it easier for her.

There was another knock at the door and Randy poked his head around it. He didn't look surprised to see Glenn there, but nor did he look happy, "I heard that you were back." Glenn just nodded, folding his arms. Tahni fidgeted uncomfortably at the tension between the two of them and focused her gaze on Randy, "Is everything okay?" Randy looked at her and nodded, smiling, "Your match is up. Time for you to go win us a pick."

"We'll catch up after the match, okay?" Tahni addressed Glenn, who nodded. She hugged him around the waist quickly, before taking Randy's hand and allowing him to lead her out. He squeezed her hand, looking down at her as they walked to the gorilla position, "You're gonna be great." Tahni smiled at him and tilted her face up to accept his kiss. She looked over at Melina and sent the other woman a half wave. They weren't friends, but they got along better than Tahni did with most of the other females in the company. Melina smiled and tipped her a wink, before her music hit and she strutted onto the ramp.

Tahni took several deep breaths, trying to shake her nerves. She stepped up to the curtain and shook her hands several times, hopping up and down on the spot. It seemed like no time at all before it was her turn and the re-mixed version of Pink's Don't Let Me Get Me, that was now her long-running entrance music, began to blare out of the speakers.

She heard the crowd pop, having not heard her music for such a long time and she ran through the curtain. The nerves instantly fell away as she spun on one foot at the top of the ramp. She looked into the lights, the sea of faces and felt instantly at home. She ran down to the ring and slid under the rope, bouncing right to her feet.

She jumped onto the turnbuckle and flaunted at the crowd, before a sudden impact on her back caused her to lose her footing and crash to the mat, slamming down on her right leg. In the distance she heard the bell ring and felt Melina's hands in her hair, dragging her to her feet. She turned instantly, hitting out and causing the other woman to release her and fall back.

The match was high impact. Tahni felt a kind of release from wrestling Melina, someone who took heavy bumps and hit as hard as she could take. Her technical skills far surpassed a lot of the other divas and made her a joy to work with.

It felt like a pure match, perfect for shaking off the cobwebs and Tahni soon forgot the actual importance of it. At one point she fell, hitting the back of her head and for a moment was dazed and panicked, unsure if she'd hurt herself again, but the fog cleared and she sprung back to her feet. She scrambled up the turnbuckle, but Melina was quicker, grabbing the back of her vest and pulling her back down so that she was hung up in the tree of woe, her ankles entangled in the ropes. She wriggled to try and free herself, as Melina's knee connected viciously with her midriff, taking the air out of her.

She could feel herself beginning to tire, much quicker than she would have before her injury, but she fought on. Melina was a stunning opponent and so quick on her feet. Tahni fought back, but time and again found herself stuck to the mat. Eventually, Melina caught her in a submission hold and by this point, Tahni was too tired to fight back. She tapped out and felt a great sense of relief as the bell sounded and Melina released her. She lay on the mat, trying to catch her breath, as reality hit her. She'd lost. She'd given a pick to Raw.

As she realised this, she shoved herself to her knees and stared at the titantron. The SmackDown roster was flashing across the screen, too fast for Tahni to keep up and then it stopped…Tahni shook her head, her hands lifting to cover her mouth in shock as Glenn's face now stared down at her from the screen and it was announced that he would be drafted to Raw.

Tahni knew she couldn't linger where she was, another match was about to come on and reluctantly she rolled out of the ring, following Melina backstage. She shook the other woman's hand numbly, before turning slowly to head back to her dressing room. She stopped as she saw Glenn looking at her and they just stared at each other. Glenn approached first and neither said anything as they embraced. Tahni squeezed her eyes shut as she felt hot tears building in them.

"I don't want you to go." She mumbled and Glenn hugged her tighter, "It's okay. We'll still see each other loads and you can always call me." Tahni shook her head, rejecting this. She didn't want to call him or see him every other weekend. He was her best friend and she wanted to see him in person all the time. He'd only just come back and now he had to leave again.

Glenn sighed and cupped the back of her head with his hand, "We'll talk about this later. Randy's match is up next, you should go see him." Tahni nodded and sniffled a little, moving out of his arms. She brushed impatiently at her eyes, before turning reluctantly and wandering off to find Randy. He was waiting for her at the gorilla position. He hugged her and expressed his regret at her being separated from Glenn, but it rang a little hollow. Tahni could forgive him for that. She kissed him good luck and watched him go.

He won his match, earning a pick for SmackDown which brought David Otunga over to their roster. During the match, Tahni and Glenn sat together in her dressing room, talking quietly and working out how things were going to pan out. Glenn left when Randy's match was over, giving the two of them some time alone.

They watched the rest of the night unfold. Ted lost his match sending JTG to Raw. Cody's match was up last and by now, Ted had joined Tahni and Randy to watch. The match was short and painful. Cody lost and the three of them sat biting their nails as the SmackDown roster once again flashed across the titantron.

The arena exploded as the final pick appeared on the screen. Ted, Randy and Tahni all just stared, with a horrible, cold feeling settling over them. Tahni was shaking her head, a sick feeling washing over her and she could feel herself trembling from head to toe. Randy stood up and kicked his chair, causing it to smash against the wall. The announcement rang through the dressing room speakers and echoed around the rest of the arena; "The final pick of the 2011 WWE Draft is…Tahni, who moves from SmackDown to Raw."

Just like that, the draft was over and none of them knew what to say.

* * *

"Randy?"

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?" Tahni flinched from the anger in Randy's voice and stood in the doorway, wringing her hands. "No."

"Well, then don't ask stupid questions."

"Why are you mad at me? I didn't choose this." Tahni frowned and Randy made a scoffing noise as if he didn't believe her. "You get to be with your precious Glenn now, without me being there to interfere." Tahni's mouth dropped open in shock and she did the only thing she could think of, which was to reach down and pulled her sneaker off, before throwing it at him. It bounced off his shoulder and he just stared at her. "How dare you! How dare you say that to me! You think I wanted this to happen? You think I would have chosen this?" Her temper flared Randy's up instantly and he shot to his feet, glaring at her, "What am I supposed to think? It's a little convenient, don't you think! He comes back and just you two get drafted over!"

"Just us two? SmackDown lost four people tonight! The draft picks are random, you know that! Raw lost five people! I'm sure they had people they didn't want to leave!" Tahni's hands had curled into tight little fists at her sides and two red spots of anger had appeared on her cheeks. Randy shook his head, "Tell me you didn't want to go! Tell me you wouldn't rather be on Raw with him!" He advanced towards her and she stood her ground, glaring angrily up at him, "How can you think that of me? After all this time!"

Randy made an angry noise and turned away from her. She grabbed his arm, her nails digging nastily into his arm, "Don't turn your back on me, Randy Orton!" He smacked her hand away viciously, causing her to gasp and pull it towards her sharply, "You turned you back on me a long time ago! You've always picked him over me!"

"I never chose anyone! I didn't know that I had to! I shouldn't have to choose between my boyfriend and my best friend!"

"Well, you do! It's me or him!" Randy regretted it as soon as he'd said it. Tahni's face fell and all the anger drained away. She stepped back and shook her head, speaking quietly now, in a tone that terrified him, "I wont do that. I wont choose between you and if you would make me, then I don't see any future for us. I guess it works out perfectly, doesn't it?" She took a deep breath and wrenched her eyes from the carpet to meet his. The emerald of her gaze, glittered with tears and held a coldness that chilled Randy the core, "Whatever you think of me…it was always you. As long as you never made me choose, it would always have been you. Now you get to think the worst of me, if that makes it easier for you." She turned from him then, to exit the bedroom, pausing to speak over her shoulder, "I'll drive myself to the airport." She shut the door behind her, leaving Randy alone, in the room which suddenly felt very empty.

* * *

"I'm gonna miss you, Teabag." Ted pouted at her and she smiled, hugging him tightly. He hugged her back fiercely and she squeaked a little in protest, causing him to release her. "Don't have too much fun without me, okay?" Ted crossed his heart and stepped back to allow Cody his turn. Tahni smiled at Cody as he handed her a single, giant daisy made of fabric, "Thank you." Cody nodded and coughed a little, shifting his weight, "Just don't forget us."

"Never gonna happen." Tahni hugged him, a little more stoically than Ted and he patted her on the top of the head. When they parted, Tahni glanced back towards the doors of the airport, her eyes searching for the person that she already knew wouldn't be there. "He'll come around." Tahni's eyes flashed to Ted and she smiled sadly, "It's okay. Nothing can last forever." They hugged once more, before the final call came for Tahni and Glenn's flight. Tahni sighed and took one last long look at her friends, before motioning to Glenn and they both boarded the plane.

Glenn watched her closely as she settled back in her seat and looked out of the window. She was staring fiercely at the airport and Glenn knew what she was looking for. She'd told him what had happened, between hiccups and sobs. He reached over now and took her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. She looked at him and gave him a small smile, that was completely empty and went back to looking out of the window.

Yesterday, everything had been so perfect and now it was destroyed. Her beautiful little world had been ripped apart. She could have handled it, though, if she'd still had Randy. If he'd told her that it didn't matter and that they'd find a way around it, then everything would have been okay.

Randy stood in the terminal, having arrived two minutes too late to catch her. He stared out of the window as the plane began it's ascent along the run way and felt as if a stone had attached itself to his heart. He watched the plane take away the best thing in his life and felt sick. He'd let her go with the argument fresh in her mind, with the hurt and anger still raw. He hadn't been fast enough to realise the mistake he'd made. He'd let himself stay angry for two minutes too long and now she was gone.

He considered calling her when she landed, but he knew it was already too late. Better to let her go and get on with her life now. A long distance relationship was too hard, too complicated and now he'd laid his cards out. He'd given her the ultimatum that he had thought he was better than to give and he should never have asked her to make that choice. His own bitterness and resentment of having to share her, had finally ripped them apart.

How could he have expected otherwise? Tahni could never have been only his. She was too much of a person to belong to one. She belonged to everyone who entered her life. She gave herself wholly to everyone that mattered to her and thought nothing of sharing herself equally. She had given him the most important part of herself and he had realised that too late. Her heart was the biggest part of her and she'd given it to him completely and he hadn't appreciated that until now, until she was completely out of his grasp.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: So, by way of apologising for taking so long to update before, I decided to give you another chapter quickly after the other.**

**Oh and thank you Christina89 for reviewing the last one :D**

* * *

"Would you just call her already?"

"Shut up, Ted."

"You shut up." Ted scowled at Randy, who was lying spread eagled on his bed, moping. As he had been for the past week. Randy didn't even glance at him and he let out a sigh of frustration, "Fine. Stay in here and rot, then. Cody and I will be in the lounge watching Raw." That got a reaction. Randy bolted into a sitting position and fixed Ted with a furious glare that was so intense, it made Ted bolt out of the room and shut the door.

Cody looked up at him from the couch and lifted his eyebrows, "Still nothing?"

"Nope." They were all staying at Cody's apartment since SmackDown was in his hometown this week. Ted flopped down on the couch next to him and sighed heavily, "I think I preferred him as a jackass."

"He's still a jackass."

"True, but he was nicer when he was with Tahni. Not as snappy." Ted grumbled. Cody shook his head and passed him a beer, before flicking the t.v on. "Let's see how the other one is doing."

* * *

Tahni looked at Glenn and smiled, nudging him with her elbow, "I'm the one that's meant to be depressed, remember? You're meant to be my shoulder to cry on."

"I'm not crying." Glenn protested, glowering at her. Tahni snickered and shook her head, then her music hit and she made a face, "Wish me luck." Glenn grunted in response and Tahni ran off through the curtain. She was greeted by a wall of cheers as she beamed at the crowd. She was in a re-match against Melina and determined that this time she wouldn't go down so easily. Mostly, she hoped Randy was watching, but she'd never say that out loud.

She attacked Melina as soon as she entered the ring, taking her down with a hard clothesline. She saw Melina's eyebrows go up briefly in amused surprised, before she hit back, kicking Tahni's legs out from under her. Tahni was much more on form this time, taking Melina hit for hit, breaking out the big moves. The two of them were quite well matched in size, both small and agile, which allowed them to fly around the ring and utilise their natural athleticism.

Tahni was buzzing from the energy and new the moment was right to try the new move she'd been training with, her new finisher. As she hit Melina with another clothesline, she tapped the back of the other woman's shoulder and saw the minimalist nod of her head. Melina went down and then slowly dragged herself back to her feet in a dazed manner.

Tahni ran, circling the ring, once, then twice, before pressing her foot onto the bottom rope, then her second on the middle, before pushing herself up, to plant both feet on the top rope and propel herself towards Melina, catching her in a heavy cross body slam, planting her on the mat. The ref's hand pounded the mat three times and the bell rang.

Tahni briefly felt her fingers being gently crushed in Melina's, before she was urged to her feet and her hand raised. She beamed at the ground and bounced onto the turnbuckle, throwing her arms over her head and bathing in the unique glow that came from winning a match. Her first match on Raw.

She rolled out of the ring and bounded up the ramp, where she finally released the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding. She felt exhilarated from top to toe and looked automatically for her usual welcoming committee. She was then hit by a cold feeling, as if water had just been dumped over her, when she remembered that they weren't there. She stared at the empty space where they had been, her hands resting on her waist as she tried to catch her breath and felt totally alone.

Melina approached her and shook her hand, congratulating her on her win and on executing her new move, before wandering off and leaving her alone again. Even Glenn was absent. Tahni wrapped her arms around herself in a self-protective manner and headed to the women's locker room. She warmed down, stretching out her muscles, before taking a long shower. By the time she emerged, the locker room was empty and she was able to change without being forced to make conversation.

She sat on one of the bench and ran her fingers through her damp, blue hair, tugging at it lightly. She caught her reflection in the mirror and frowned. She rose to her feet and approached the mirror. The blue had been a pointed decision. Her loyalty to SmackDown. She pulled at the short locks in an infantile moment of despair, before turning and reaching into her bag. She pulled out the wool beanie that she had always kept buried in the very bottom. She dusted it off, picking off the bits of fluff, before yanking in on and tugging it down until her hair was completely concealed.

She then shoved her things into her bag and pulled it onto her shoulder, before ducking her head and stalking out of the locker room. She didn't talk to anyone as she headed to the hotel. She didn't know anyone well enough for them to want to talk to her. She clambered into her rental and managed to make it halfway down the street before the tears came.

She ignored them, letting them fall unchecked down her cheeks as she drove. It was stupid to cry. It never helped anything. She hated to cry. What would Randy say? That thought alone almost stopped her heart. Randy wouldn't say anything, because they weren't together any more. She banged hr hands against the steering wheel and shook her head impatiently. Stupid thoughts like that weren't going tog et her anywhere. She had to stop being so morbid and sadistic and going over and over it in her head.

She stopped in a gas station and darted inside quickly, being sure to keep a low profile as she grabbed what she needed, before heading back to the hotel and shutting herself in her room. Her cell kept ringing, Glenn's number flashing up on the screen, so she shut it off, before closing herself in her bathroom.

When she emerged, she switched her phone back on to find that she had sixteen missed calls and several voice messages. One was from Cody and Ted that made her smile, the rest were from Glenn, asking if she was okay and where she was.

She called him back and arranged to meet him for dinner at a nearby restaurant. She changed into a pair of fitted blue jeans and a pretty, navy halter top. She didn't bother with makeup and scrutinised her hair carefully in the mirror, before she headed out.

Glenn's face was a picture when he saw her. In fact, pretty much everyone in the restaurant looked shock -some appalled- when they saw her. She smirked a little to herself as she approached the table and sat down. Glenn was staring at her in shock and she just lifted her eyebrows innocently, "Something wrong?"

"Um…did someone attack you with hair dye?"

"No, I did it myself."

"It's really, really red, T." Tahni nodded, amused by his reaction. She reached up and touched her newly scarlet hair, "I know." Glenn just stared at her for a few more minutes, before the waiter arrived to give them their menus and take their drink orders. Every now and then, Tahni would catch Glenn staring at her and would scowl at him in response.

The conversation wasn't exactly flowing, but the silence was companionable. Glenn was watching Tahni for any signs of an impending break down. She was dealing with this all too well. She'd been uprooted, ripped away from all of her friends and split from her boyfriend, all in a very short space of time and she was coping far batter than she should have been. Tahni was an emotional creature, prone to fits of irrational behaviour when she was upset and yet…nothing.

She seemed perfectly content as she inhaled her food and then sat back to rub her stomach happily. Until the waiter reappeared that was and she ordered some obnoxiously large dessert. The girl was definitely not right. Glenn wanted to just be happy that he had her all to himself again and that there was none of the tension of recent months. He couldn't settle into it, though. He knew Tahni, he knew what she was like and this wasn't it. She wasn't rational or calm in the face of adversity. She freaked out. It was her staple, but she was doing the exact opposite of what anyone would have expected from her.

As they were walking back to the hotel, Glenn watched her closely. She was walking along the curb, balancing one foot in front of the other, with her arms out. Like a child. Glenn sighed and grabbed her hand, drawing her back onto the sidewalk, "Tahni, we have to talk."

"We are talking." She responded innocently, not releasing his hand. He shook his head and looked at her, then stopped walking, "It's okay to be sad, you know?" Tahni tilted her head as if she didn't know what he meant and he shook his head, "Tahni, stop it. I know you're hurting. I know that's why you changed your hair." He reached out his free hand to touch the tufts of scarlet hair lightly and she flinched, her brows creasing into a gentle frown, "I don't want to talk about this." She gently pulled her hand free and resumed walking. Glenn followed, matching her quickened pace, "You need to. You need to acknowledge what's happened."

Tahni stopped suddenly again and frowned at him, "I have acknowledged it. I know that it happened. I am living with it. I know that I lost something huge and I know that it hurts. I don't need to talk about it, to know it or acknowledge it. I don't want to keep going over it. I don't want to talk it out because that wont make it any better, it will only make it hurt more. I just want to get on with my life. Can you understand that?"

Glenn sighed and ran a hand over his face and then held out his hand to her, "Yeah, I can." Slowly, Tahni took his hand and they walked back to the hotel in silence.

* * *

The crowd were screaming as loudly as they could, shaking the walls of the arena, but Randy didn't hear them. The match was over. He knew that much. He didn't know how long ago it had finished, all he knew was that his fists were still curled and slamming repeatedly into the body and face of Alberto Del Rio. The other man was curled into a defensive ball, but Randy didn't relent. He rose to his feet and kicked him over and over. He backed off slowly, as Del Rio lifted himself onto all-fours. Randy stares at him from the corner of the ring and knew he couldn't resist. He charged forwards and felt his foot connect with the side of Del Rio's head.

The other man spun onto his back and lay motionless. The security entered the ring then and bodily hauled him away. He was marched up the ramp and out the back. He shoved them off him as soon as they were backstage and out of view of the crowds. Ted and Cody were stood close by, watching him. They all looked at each other for a moment, before Randy stormed past them to his locker room.

Ted and Cody didn't follow him and once he was out of sight, they turned to each other. They both knew that what Randy had done was totally out of order and completely off the script. He'd won his match and he should have left it at that, but they'd seen that rage in his eyes before and knew he lost all sense of control when he was like that.

Ted sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "How long's it been?" Cody looked in the direction Randy had gone, "About eighteen months."

"How long'd it take for him to revert back?"

"About eighteen hours."

Both men shook their heads. Tahni had been gone for almost two weeks and the change in Randy was obvious for anyone to see. He didn't want anyone around him unless he felt they could serve some kind of purpose. He snapped at everyone and was moody all the time. Randy had always been the introverted sort. He tended to think inwards and didn't like company most of the time, but his mood was rarely this sullen. He hadn't been this bad since his divorce from Sam, six months before he'd met Tahni for the first time.

He'd still been getting over that when he'd met her. She'd made him better in a lot of ways. Their constant arguing had given him someone to vent it all at, who didn't get bored or give in. She'd helped him heal, without even knowing she was doing it. Even after their fighting had stopped, she'd been healing the wounds she hadn't even know were there. Randy had become somewhat dependant on her and now he was lost again, hurt all over again. And angry. Most of all angry. Ted and Cody didn't know who he was angry at, though. Himself or Tahni.

He claimed it was her. That she had walked out on him, not the other way around. She had been the one to end it, but the others weren't stupid. They knew that Tahni would have walked through fire to save her relationship with Randy, unless he'd given her a damn good reason not to. He had to have made her feel that there was nothing left to fight for. Tahni wasn't the sort to give up, so if Randy had said or done something to make her do that…then neither Ted nor Cody held out much hope of a reconciliation. Especially since Randy and Tahni were now on different rosters and didn't have to face each other every day…they had no reason to face up to what had happened between them. They could just ignore it.

* * *

"Hey!"

"_I'm sorry, do I know you?"_

"Very funny, Ted."

"_No, seriously. Do I know you?"_

"Shut up, Ted. I wanna talk to Cody."

"_No, you don't! I remember you now! You're the short one with blue hair!"_

"Red."

"_Red what?"_

"My hair's red."

"_No, it's not. It's blue."_

"I changed it on Monday."

"_Your hair's not blue anymore?"_

"No, Ted."

"_But…why?"_

"I'm on Raw now. Seemed only right that I dye it red."

"_I think you'd look horrible with red hair. Your skin's the wrong tone for it."_

"Actually, it suits me very well."

"_You lie. Nothing suits you."_

"I actually hate you sometimes."

"_No, you don't. Nobody hates me."_

"Hate to break it to you, but half the world hates you, Teddy Bear. You're a heel."

"_Huh…well…you're fat."_

"Y'know, you could give me a complex, saying things like that to me all the time."

"_You promise?"_

"Put Cody on. I don't want to talk to you anymore!"

"_Ugh. Fine. Your voice hurts my ears anyway."_

Tahni waited. She could hear the sound of scuffling in the background, then a yelp of pain, before Cody came on the line.

"_Hey, T. How's it going?"_

"Did you break Ted?"

"_Not any part of him that he's going to need."_

"How reassuring."

"_So, what's it like on Raw?"_

"It's great1 I love it! Everyone's so friendly and I've made a tonne of new friends."

"_Really?"_

"No, it sucks and I hate it. I wanna come home."

"_Aw, T. You'll get used to it. For what it's worth, Ted's going crazy without you. I mean, crazier than usual. I think he misses having someone to goof around with."_

"I miss you both, so much."

"_Randy misses you too, y'know."_

"Did you see my match on Monday? Like my new finisher?" Tahni knew that it was an obvious dodge, but she also knew that Cody was sensible enough to go along with, but she heard the reluctance in his voice.

"_Yeah, we saw. It was awesome. Who taught you that?"_

"Glenn worked it out with me. Took a while to get it right. I think I fell on my face like, a hundred times."

"_I would have paid to see that."_

"That's not very nice."

"_Sorry."_

"You're not sorry."

"_Not even a little. I am, however, sorry that I'm not sorry."_

"I'm confused."

"_Yeah, me too."_

"Oh damn, my flight's being called. I better go. Give Ted a kiss from me."

"_Yeah, like that's gonna happen."_

"Tell him I miss him, then."

"_Sure thing. Have a safe flight. Talk soon, okay?"_

"For sure. Miss you. Bye!" She hung up and looked longingly at her phone, before Glenn appeared at her side. She smiled at him and took his hand, letting him lead her onto the place and off to their next destination.

* * *

Randy was watching Ted and Cody, with a scowl on his face. He hunched lower in his chair, narrowing his eyes. They were chattering away to each other, having just gotten off the phone and he could easily guess that they'd been talking to Tahni. He felt angry just knowing that. He wanted to yell at the both, though he knew he had absolutely no right to be. He wanted them to ignore Tahni because then she'd be completely out of his life and he could ignore her too.

He saw Ted and Cody glance his way, but they looked away quickly when they say he was staring at them. They were like a pair of school kids. As if he couldn't guess that they were talking about him. Well, who needed them? They'd obviously decided where their loyalties lay. So had Tahni.

Yes, he'd regretted it at first, but he'd had time to get angry since then. Angry at her. She should never have left. She should have stayed and fought harder for them. They'd been having a rough time lately, they argued a lot, but she should have tried harder. She should have been more reasonable and realised that he hadn't meant what he'd said.

She hadn't though. She'd walked away. She'd gotten on that plane with Glenn and not bothered a moment to mourn for their relationship. He'd watched Raw. He'd seen how happy she was there. She'd forgotten all about him already. Well, good riddance. He'd told her once that this business was all that mattered to him and it was truer now, than ever. She had been a distraction, that was all. Now he could get back to business of becoming champion, without her getting in the way.

Part of him knew that the anger was a kind of mask, hiding something unpleasant that he didn't want to face, but he was more than happy for that mask to stay in place. It physically hurt him to think of Tahni in any way that wasn't angry. Anger was a kind of freedom from her and he grasped at that with both hands. He was glad to have it there to utilise.

"Hey, Randy? You okay, man?" Randy lifted his head to scrutinise the man in front of him and nodded slowly, "I'm fine." Christian nodded and sat down beside him, glancing around the busy terminal, before looking back at him, "What happened the other night? Rumour has it that your little outburst wasn't on the card."

Randy was scowling at him now. He sat up straighter, folding his arms over his chest, making it clear that he didn't welcome this conversation. "Improvisation. Call it a spontaneous re-write. Call it whatever, I don't care." Christian watched him closely, then shook his head, "You've always been a bit of a closed book, Orton. I'm not gonna lie, but I've never known you to act unprofessionally before. Is this anything to do with your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend. Not anymore." Randy muttered his reply, not sure why he was even bothering to talk to Christian. They'd never been particularly close, but Randy had a healthy respect for him. Christian was quiet for a moment, linking his hands in front of him with unnecessary care. "I see. So you're pining?"

"I'm not pining. Do I look like someone who pines?" Randy growled angrily and Christian held his hands up, "I was only making a suggestion. Look, man, I don't know what's up with you, but I know what a man looks like when he's in pain. Physical or mental and right now, it's pretty obvious you're hurting and it's effecting your work. You gotta know who to lean on, know what I mean? You got two good friends right there," He motioned to Ted and Cody before continuing, "and you're treating them like crap. You've got a good contract and a boss who is right behind you and you're treating him like crap too. Choose a direction, man. 'Cause my bet is that that girl, is not going to come back whilst you're going for the world jackass record." Christian patted him lightly on the shoulder, before he stood up and wandered off.

Randy stared after him with a frown on his face. He didn't normally let people talk to him like that, but something had made him just sit and let Christian talk. Maybe he was right. Maybe acting like an idiot wasn't going to win him any favours. It certainly wouldn't make Tahni want to come back to him.

But, he didn't want her back. He was mad at her. She'd made her choice. She'd chosen Glenn. Yeah, she played the morality card and acted like that wasn't what she was doing, she'd put the blame on him, but it was clear that she had picked Glenn over him. Maybe being a jackass was exactly what he did need to do. Maybe that would make her understand that she had made the wrong choice. Maybe that would make her feel the guilt she deserved to feel and realise that she had done the wrong thing by him. Maybe it would make hr stop and think about what she'd done.

* * *

"Tahni Cauldwell?"

"Yeah, who's asking?" She frowned at the mail boy at her door, looking curiously at the package he delivered to her. She signed for it and then kicked the door shut. Glenn looked up from where he was laid on the bed, "What is it?"

"Must be my new script. Guess they worked out my storyline." Tahni shrugged and sat at the table. She ripped open the script and then idly picked up a slice of toast as she opened it. She flicked through the pages and smiled a little, "Hey, we're gonna be working together again." Glenn sat up and nodded, smiling back at her. Both were relieved that they were still going to be able to spend a lot of time together. Tahni continued to read, frowning as she pulled a match card out of the pages. "This says I'm in a…cage match. At Extreme Rules." She flicked her eyes to Glenn, who stood up and walked over, taking the card out of her hand and examining it. "So you are. Against Melina. I guess they wanna work that angle you two got going. It's a good thing, T. It means you're getting a decent push. A diva cage match is no small thing."

"Yeah, I get that but…I wasn't going to Extreme Rules." Tahni looked at him, a small crease between her brows where she was frowning and Glenn sighed, placing the card back down on the table. He rested a hand on her shoulder, "I know, but you can't avoid him forever."

Tahni stood u, shaking her head, "It's not forever. It's just too soon. I can't deal with him yet." Glenn grasped her by the upper arms and held her still, looking down at her with a stern expression, "I know you can't, but you have to. Look, if we plan it right, you can probably avoid him altogether. He's going to be busy with his match and you'll be busy with yours. We'll get there as late as possible and leave as soon as you're done. My match is before yours, so there's no worry there."

Tahni just looked at him for several long moments, before she smiled and hugged him around the waist. She rested her cheek against his expansive chest and sighed a little, "I'm lucky to have a friend like you." Glenn smiled and rubbed her back lightly, with his hand, "Yeah, I know."

* * *

"Randy! Match cards for Extreme Rules." Ted shouted through from the living area to the bedroom and Randy traipsed out, looking moody and despondent, as usual. He practically snatched the card out of Ted's hand and read it through. He stopped and read it again, before looking at Ted, "Have you seen this?" Ted said nothing, just twitched the corners of the newspaper he was reading. "Ted, I asked you a question." Ted sighed and lowered the paper, looking over at Randy, "Yes, I've seen it and I know what you're thinking, but don't you dare. You stay away from her, Randy."

Randy narrowed his eyes at the blatant threat in Ted's tone, but the other man did not back down, "Look, I don't know what you did to make her leave like she did, but I know you and I know what you're like when you're angry. She's hurting and she's upset, right now. She doesn't need you hassling her and reminding her of that."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I know enough. I know Tahni and I know that you're only going to upset her if you go harassing her." Ted folded the paper and set it down on the table, before folding his arms. Randy glared at him, "She's the one who broke up with me, if you remember."

"Yeah and why did she do that? What did you say to her to make her do that?" Ted's expression was suspicious. Randy refused to discuss what had happened when he and Tahni broke up, but Ted could guess. Randy was constantly complaining about Tahni's friendship with Glenn and anyone who'd heard his rants knew that it was going to boil over eventually.

The two of them stared at one another for a few seconds, then Randy sighed and sat down on the other side of the table, "I told her she had to choose." Ted's eyebrows lifted and he ran a hand over his face, shaking his head, "Why would you do that?"

"I was angry. I was trying to process all this information and I didn't think. I didn't mean to, it just kinda popped out." Ted knew that getting this off his chest was a big deal for Randy, so didn't do as his first instinct dictated, which was to slap him across the back of the head. "You need to give her some time, Randy. Some space. That's all I can advise right now."

Randy nodded, but didn't say anything, but Ted could tell that he wasn't listening and now he was dreading what was going to happen at Extreme Rules


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I know I've fallen behind of current events, but oh well. I have my own set of events that I want to play out, so let's ignore the real-time storyline.**

**Thanks to_ Tenshi no Koneko_ and _Sonib89_ for reviewing the last chapter. Sorry this one's taken so long to get up.**

* * *

"Tahni! Oh, good. I hoped we'd catch you before you left."

"Mom?" Tahni smiled as she saw her mother approaching her across the lobby, with her father, her older brother Jason and her friend Michael. She hugged them all dutifully, then shook her head, "I'm sorry guys, but I have to get to the arena." Her mom nodded, waving a hand impatiently, "We know, we just wanted to wish you luck. We'll catch up with you afterwards."

"Okay, enjoy the show."

"Tahni, we gotta go, love." Glenn called to her now and she acknowledged him, before hugging her family again. She then jogged over to Glenn, who grabbed her hand and led her out. It was rare that her family got to see the shows, but since Extreme Rules was being filmed in Tampa, it wasn't too far a stretch for them to come from Jacksonville.

Her parents watched her go and her mother, Denise turned to look at her father, Gabe, "I thought she was with that Orton boy." Gabe shook his head, watching as Glenn helped Tahni into their taxi, "Probably best not to ask."

In the car, Tahni rested back against the seat and rubbed at her eyes, "Well, that was awkward." Glenn let out a small snort of laughter, "I thought you got on with your parents."

"I do, I just haven't gotten around to telling them that I'm not with Randy any more. My mom loves him. I swear, she'd adopt him if she could."

"Scary thought."

"Gross thought." Tahni wrinkled her nose and stared out of the window. Glenn watched her closely. She was more tense today than she had been since her transfer. She was panicking over the possibility of seeing Randy for the first time since their break-up. Glenn had been careful not to bring it up. He was silently determined to keep the two of them apart, but his eyes couldn't be everywhere and that worried him.

He'd been watching Smackdown recently and he had seen Randy's behaviour. If it had been before he'd known Tahni, the renewed violence of his attitude wouldn't have bothered Glenn, but it wasn't and the change in him, the anger he displayed bothered him.

"Stop it. There's steam coming out of your ears." Glenn was surprised to find that Tahni was now looking at him with a scrutinizing gaze. "There is not."

"Is too. It's making my nose run." Tahni responded, wrinkling her nose. Glenn just rolled his eyes at her.

* * *

Randy was stood in front of the mirror in his locker room, slowly rolling tape around his wrists, his eyes never left his reflection. He was undecided about what he wanted to do about Tahni. Part of him wanted to avoid her, to ignore her and pretend that she didn't exist. It would suit both their purposes not to see her. Some other instinct complicated things, though. The part of him that yearned to see her, even if just to yell at her. He wanted to touch her, just to be sure that he hadn't dreamed her.

He was still angry, furious in fact and he wanted her to know that. He wanted to make sure she was completely aware of how much damage she had done and leave no doubt in her mind that their split had been entirely her fault. Regardless of what Ted said. If she had just behaved more appropriately, things would enervate gone this far. No other man would put up with her friendship with Glenn being the way that it was and it was a miracle that he had done so for so long. It was unfair of her to expect him to accept it.

Ted had tried to tell him that it was just part of who she was, but it shouldn't be. She should have tried harder to save them. If she had loved him as much as she had said that she did, she would have taken his feelings into account more than she had. She would have understood that he needed her to want him more than she wanted Glenn, but she had never made that compromise. She had refuse to bend at all for him.

He wanted to tell her all of this, to vent his frustration and anger at her. Then again, he knew it would be painful to see her, especially having seen how happy she had been on Raw. He wanted her to be miserable, to feel as horrible as he did all the time. He felt like there was something evil that had crawled inside of his gut and refused to let go. It was constantly there, torturing him, twisting him and destroying him. He hated it, but at the same time clung to it desperately. He didn't know how he would feel without it. He didn't know if there was enough of himself left to cope without it.

A knock on the door disturbed his quiet and he called that it was alright to enter. Cody walked inside, just looking at him for a few moments, before speaking, "Just wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine." Was the very quiet, deliberate answer. Randy tore of the end of the tape, finishing the wrapping of his wrists. He set it carefully to one side and then leaned forward to press his hands against the edge of the shelf than ran under the wall mirror. He bowed his head for a moment, before turning his face towards Cody, but not fully looking at him, "Is she here?"

Cody shifted uncomfortably and his answer was reluctant at best, "She just arrived. I should tell you, Randy…all of her family are here. Please, I'm asking you as a friend; don't do anything to upset her." Randy licked his teeth and turned his eyes to the mirror again, gazing at his own face, then flicking his eyes to look at Cody in the reflective surface. "Do you think that I would?"

"I think that you might. Even if you didn't mean to." It was as honest as answer as anyone could have given and it was best coming from Cody, who had been such a close friend over the recent years. Randy chose not to respond, "You should get ready for your match." Cody sighed and nodded, then left the room without further conversation. Randy went back to looking at himself in the mirror, gazing darkly at his own icy eyes. Still, he was undecided. He wasn't sure what he wanted more; to avoid her existence entirely or to confront her.

* * *

"I think I need a brace for my leg."

"I think you need a brace for your head."

"Charming." Tahni rolled her eyes at Glenn and stuck her tongue out. She was sat in front of her dresser in her locker room, trying to tame her hair into some kind of order. She still hadn't entirely gotten used to the red and was examining it with intense scrutiny. Glenn was watching her boredly, lounging in a chair with his arms folded, "Are you nervous?"

Tahni shrugged a slipped a bobby pin into the front of her hair, "A little. I've never been in a cage match before."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant." She responded without looking at him as she slipped another pin into her hair. "Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure. I walked into a door on my way here." Tahni let out a short burst of laughter and lowered her hands from her hair, spinning in her chair to look at him, "You did what?"

"No lie. I was on the phone and I went to leave my locker room and walked right into the door."

"I figured that if that ever happened you'd just bust straight through it without even noticing."

"I'm not a monster truck, T."

"You look like one." She paused and leaned forward a little to sniff him, "You smell like one too." Glenn swiped at her, but she ducked back quickly, smirking impishly at him. There was a knock on the door at that point. Glenn went to answer it, but Tahni held up a hand to stop him and whispered quietly, "Don't. It's Ted." Glenn frowned, glancing at the door and then back at her, lowering his voice to a whisper too, "I thought you liked Ted."

Tahni could restrain a giggle, "Just wait." The knock repeated, more loudly this time. Tahni shook her head at Glenn, who just raised his eyebrows and waited. Again the knock came, this time followed by Ted's voice, sharp and curt, "Tahni. You in there?" A few second past, before there was the sound of Ted beating his fists repeatedly against the heavy door. "Taaaaaaahni! Open the door or I'm coming in, even if you're naked!" Tahni giggled quietly and slipped to the door, flicking the lock. It clunked into place quite loudly. "I heard that! Don't you lock this door! Hey! Cauldwell! I know you're in there! Let me iiiiinn!" Tahni covered her mouth to mask her giggles, Glenn just watched with amusement. Now there was a scratching down and Ted dragged his nails down the door and put on his best impression of a zombie, "Taaaaaaaahni….I want to eat your braaaaaaaain!"

"No! Be gone evil beast of hell!" Tahni called back, straightening up to press her hands against the door. Having gotten a response, Ted upped his effort, "Braaaaaaains! Give me braaaaaains! Juicy Teabag, braaaaaaaaaains!"

"Don't make me get my shotgun!"

"You don't have a shotgun!"

"You broke character!"

"I'm an intelligent zombie!"

"No such thing!"

"Yes, there is! You told me so!"

"When?"

"Ages ago!"

"I have no memory of this, therefore it must be a lie!"

"It's not a lie!"

"Liar, liar, pants on fire!" Then came the sound of Ted sobbing and howling, whilst banging his hands against the door, "Please, let me in1 It's cold out here and there are things after me!"

"No!"

"Pleeeeeeeease, Tahni! They're gonna e- Oh, hey, Steve. What am I doing? Uh….nothing, just…rehearsing…for a play."

"He's lying! He's trying to get in my dressing room to molest me!"

"That's not true. I swear." The sound of Ted's foot hitting the door caused Tahni to jump back slightly. She unlocked the door and opened it sharply, "Don't you kick my door you, cad! Oh." Tahni's eyes widened hugely as she saw Ted stood there with Steve Austin. When Tahni had first joined the WWE she had gained something of a reputation for getting rather star struck and babbling nonsense at the superstars she most admired. She had yet to come face-to-face with this particular idol and was now utterly flabbergasted. "You're…You're…"

"Don't stare." Ted stomped on her foot causing her to yelp. She recovered quickly and stuck her hand out, I'm Tahni, it's nice to meet you, your majesty." Steve's eyebrows shot up, but he shook her hand, "Never been called that before. I prefer Steve, or Stone Cold if you wanna get formal."

"Can I call you Stony?"

"No."

"Hey, Steve, good to see you." Glenn had emerged and the two men shook hands. They chatted amicably, whilst Ted and Tahni stared. Ted leaned over to whisper to Tahni, "I think we're witnessing the meeting of two icons…which one would you root for?"

"What an outrageous question! Glenn's my best friend!"

"Stone Cold?"

"Totally."

* * *

"Okay, my match is up. Stay out of trouble, okay?" Glenn frowned anxiously at Tahni, who saluted him, "Scouts honour." Glenn looked sceptical, but Ted was still around and seemed to be making it his mission to keep her occupied. He walked away reluctantly, leaving the two alone. "Teddy, I'm hungry."

"That's why you're so fat." Tahni threw her boot at him and he ducked quickly. "That wasn't nice."

"This is what happens when I'm hungry. Violence ensues. If you were to go and get me a sandwich, I might be nicer." Ted let out a noise of exasperation and stood up, "Fiiiiiine." He stomped out of the locker room and Tahni hopped over to get her boot, which she quickly laced up.

She checked her appearance in the mirror and then slipped on hr black vest, doing up the single button. She twisted from side to side to make sure it was sitting right with her tank top. She jumped at the knock on her door and quickly went to answer it, "Jeez, Ted, that was fa-." She stopped dead as she opened the door, feeling suddenly as if she'd been hit with a freight train. Despite herself, her eyes drank in the ice blue eyes, the copper skin, the arms she'd come to know so well and had been so suddenly expelled from. Her heart hammered in her ears and she was sure it must be audible. "Randy."

"Expecting someone else." There was a dark look on his face, one Tahni couldn't ever recall seeing on his face, even when they had first met. There was something intimidating about him, something overbearing and it almost frightened her. She tried to answer coolly, hiding as much of her panic as she could manage, "Ted, actually."

"May I come in?" He asked, perfectly politely, but Tahni shook her head in an almost desperate way, "I'm actually a bit busy."

"This wont take long." He walked past her then and she was so desperate to avoid physical contact that she jumped aside, giving him access to the room. He shut the door once inside and rounded on her. He immediately grabbed her waist and drew her to his chest, forcing his lips over hers, bullying her into a brutal kiss that left her mouth feeling bruised. She'd didn't yield to him, though and he could feel her completely rigid form rejecting the contact. He released her and stared down at her, "Not happy to see me?"

"What's happened to you?" She gasped, trying to catch her breath as she stepped back from him. This wasn't her Randy and she didn't like it one bit.

"You happened to me." It was said angrily and she flinched. He enjoyed seeing it, knowing that it had hit home and hurt her. Maybe now she'd understand. "You changed me, aren't you happy?"

"I never wanted to change you, Randy." It was whispered, gently. She moved past him and sat down slowly at the dresser, pressing a hand to her forehead. Randy was instantly behind her, his hand son her shoulders, fingers biting into her skin until she gasped in pain. Her head shot up and she looked at him through the reflection of the mirror. "Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Stop it!" She shot to her feet, knocking his hands away. She turned to face him in an instant, her eyes blazing at him, "Stop acting like I'm the villain! Stop acting like you're the only one that's been hurt! Stop playing these stupid games!"

"You're the one playing games! You're the one who walked out on me!"

"You pushed me out! You never let me in and you left me long before I left you! You took your heart out of our relationship and there was nothing left for me to hold onto!" She was crying now and she brushed angrily at her eyes, annoyed by her own reaction. The sight of her tears seemed to break something in Rand and the anger drained out of him. He reached for her gently this time and drew her into his arms, holding her close to his chest, "I know."

She lingered for a few moments, just enjoying the closeness of him that she had missed so much, before pressing her hands against his chest and pushing him away, "You know, but you wont apologise." Randy sighed and dropped his hands to his sides, "Tahni-"

"No. Don't. I've apologise over and over for anything I have ever done to hurt you, but you wont say it. Not even once. You still think you're right."

"Yes."

"You think I should choose between you and Glenn."

"You already have."

"No. I never chose and I never will." She turned her back to him, gripping the back of the chair in front of the dresser and bowing her head. "I know you don't understand that and until you do, there's nothing left to say."

Randy's temper flared again and he grabbed her arm, pulling her to face, "I have more to say!" At this point, the door opened and Ted walked inside, carrying a plate, loaded with sandwiches. He froze when he saw the scene before him. Randy immediately released Tahni's arm and stalked past Ted, out of the room. Tahni seemed to deflate instantly, dropping down into her chair and laying her head in her hands.

Ted set the plate down on the dresser and crouched in front of her, "What happened?" Tahni shook her head. She lowered her hands from her face and Ted gripped them instantly. She took a deep breath, looking down at him, but not quite meeting his eyes, "Exactly what I expected to happen. Nothing more."

"Did he hurt you?" Tahni frowned at him and then shook her head fervently, "No, of course not." This was said almost indignantly, as if the mere thought of it were absurd, but she hadn't seen Randy lately. She didn't know how different he had seemed. Ted wouldn't have put it past him, as much as he hated to believe it of his friend.

* * *

"Tahni, are you alright?" Glenn charged towards her, his face a mask of concern. She instantly lifted her hands to stop his oncoming tirade, "I'm fine. Really." She threw a scowl at Ted, who looked utterly unrepentant at having told Glenn about Randy's visit. "I knew it was a bad idea to elave you alone. Ted, where were you?"

"I was getting food."

"You shouldn't have left her!"

"Glenn, stop it! Don't be ridiculous. I am not a child and I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Tahni protested loudly, but Glenn shook his head dismissively, taking her arm gently, "Clearly not." Tahni tugged her arm free sharply and glared at him, "I do not need constant supervision and certainly not from you! At some point you're going to have to get it through your head that I am not some little kid that tags along on your coat tails. I'm an adult and I do not need you watching me very second. Randy is not dangerous and he was perfectly justified in wanting to see me. I'm sorry if that doesn't suit your idea of who I am." She then grabbed the door handle and yanked it, before storming from the door.

She let the door slam behind her and ignored Glenn's calls for her to come back. She checked the time. Her match was on soon. All she needed to do was occupy herself until then. She needed some air. With that thought in mind, she headed straight for the stage door and threw it open. It was a little cold outside and she shivered, but took in a deep breath, feeling her mind clear instantly.

"You look as good as I feel." Tahni jumped and spun around, a smile gracing her face as she spotted Melina, leaning against the wall opposite her. "Hey."

"Looking forward to our match?"

"You have no idea." The two grinned at each other. Melina moved across to stand beside her, a more serious expression appearing on her face, "I know the move across has been tough on you. I know you've left a lot behind. I just want you to know that if you ever wanna chat, I'm always about." Tahni smiled gratefully at her, "Thanks, Mel."

"Reckon you'll be good for Raw, might stir the others up a bit, having someone with real talent around." Tahni snickered and shook her head, "They're not all talent less bimbos."

"Only mostly. Nah, they're okay, just don't tell them anything you wouldn't want repeated. It's like a sewing circle, I swear." The two shared a laugh, before a technician stuck his head through the door to call them for their match.

They headed down to the curtain together. Melina's music hit first and she gave Tahni a quick slap on the back before she ran out. Tahni hopped up and down on the spot, rolling her neck from side-to-side and wringing her fingers together as she waited. She didn't notice that was being watched and as her music hit, she ran through the curtain with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

The match itself was intense. Neither Melina nor Tahni had wrestled in a cage before, so it was a new and exciting prospect for them both and they made the most of it. Both were athletic and used the cage to show that off.

Melina began to clamber up the cage and Tahni followed suit, a few seconds behind her. As Melina reached the top, Tahni scrambled faster to catch up with her and threw her back down to the mat, before jumping from her own height to slam down on top of her.

Tahni was already proven off-screen as an exceptional climber and used it to her advantage, climbing halfway up the cage and performing a half moonsault onto Melina, but she had moved out of the way and Tahni landed hard on the mat.

The back and forth was fairly even, for every hit one gave, the other gave back just as hard. Tahni's new finisher was given a spectacular boost by her being able to utilise the cage and build enough momentum to run along the chainlike to land on Melina with the cross body slam. She instantly scrabbled to her feet and ascended the cage.

Melina crawled to her feet and gave chase. Tahni reached the top, but at exactly the wrong moment, Melina grabbed her ankle. The two women had a moment of eye contact as they realised what was about to happen. Tahni's balance had already passed her centre of gravity and she felt herself falling. She was falling to the outside of the cage. She desperately tried to grab onto it as she fell, but her fingers reached just inches too short.

She shut her eyes and prepared for the impact, knowing it was going to hurt, but right at the moment she knew she would hit the ground, she felt strong arms catch her. Her eyes flashed open and she found herself looking at Randy in shock. His face was entirely neutral as he set her on her feet. He braced her for a moment, before nodding to her and then heading back the ramp. The bell rang to signal that she'd won, but she was still staring after Randy.

The crowd were going insane, but she didn't hear them. One of the medics came to check her over, but she was fine. She turned to the cage, her eyes meeting Melina's, who looked as shocked as she did.

As soon as they were backstage, Tahni's eyes raked for any sign of Randy, but he wasn't anywhere in sight and then Melina caught up with her, gripping her forearms and demanding her attention, "Tahni, I'm so sorry! God, I don't know what happened. It's so lucky that Randy was there. Are you alright?" Tahni nodded mutely, still in shock. Melina shook her gently, "Are you sure?" Tahni nodded again and mentally shook herself, "Yes, I'm fine. Honestly. It's alright. It wasn't your fault. I got my timing wrong. I knew you were behind me, I should have thought."

Melina shook her head and pulled her into a tight hug, then released her sharply, "What was Randy doing out there?" Tahni said nothing. She knew as much about that as Melina did. What _had_ he been doing out there? Their earlier meeting hadn't exactly ended on good terms and he was the last person she would have expected to see.

"I really don't know. I'd better go get changed, I'm meeting my family." Melina nodded, seeming to understand that it was a subject that was best not broached just now, "Okay, call me later. Please?" Tahni nodded and promised, then headed back to her locker room to change and prepare for the meeting with her family.

* * *

"Goodness! That must have taken some planning! I was in pieces, I really thought you were going to get hurt." Tahni smiled at her mom and sipped her soda. Her friend Michael nudged her gently from beside her, "Told you that it was a bad idea to invite your mom." He muttered, causing Tahni to choke on her drink with laughter. She rolled her eyes at him and looked across the table at her parents, "Did you enjoy the rest of the show?"

They both nodded, but it was her brother, Jason who answered, "It was brilliant. I've never been all that interested in wrestling, but it was fascinating." Tahni smiled at him and stabbed her fork into her pasta, "I'm glad you had fun." So far she had managed to avoid talking about Randy, but she knew it was only a matter of time and as if she knew what her daughter was thinking, her mom chose that moment to ask the question, "Wont Randy be joining us tonight?" Tahni shifted a little in her chair and set her fork down, "Um, actually, mom-"

"Sorry I'm late. Got caught up signing autographs." Tahni's head shot up and she stared at Randy as he shook her father's hand and her brother's, then kissed her mother on the cheek. He was perfectly at ease with them, as if everything were normal. Michael was the only one who knew about Tahni's break up from Randy and she saw him tense in the corner of her eye.

Randy sat down beside Tahni and leaned over to kiss her cheek. She was too frozen with shock to protest. His presence certainly avoided the awkward questions that she didn't want to answer, but she knew there would be consequences for it. She didn't think she could bear the entire meal having to play act at being the happy couple with him, when just the sight of him made her heart ache.

He was the perfect gentleman throughout dinner and Tahni parents seemed to adore him, even her brother seemed to like him, which was a miracle in itself. Of course, they'd met him before, but they'd never spent any length of time together. Tahni had lost her appetite, in fact she felt a little sick, but she smiled in all the right places and laughed at all of her father's terrible jokes.

Once dinner was over, her parents declared that they were going back to their hotel, Jason was driving home that night and Michael was going with him. They all said goodbye outside of the restaurant. Gabe smiled broadly at Randy as he shook his head, "You take care of our girl, now. God knows she needs all the help she can get sometimes."

Tahni flushed a shade of scarlet, "Thanks, Daddy." Denise slapped her husband's arm, then hugged Tahni fiercely, "You take care, darling and keep in touch." She released Tahni and turned to Randy, hugging him too, "It was lovely to see you again, Randy. You'll have to come to us next time." He smiled at her and nodded, "I'd like that."

"Bye, Mom. Bye, Daddy." After that there was a quick goodbye to Jason and Michael, who pulled Tahni to one side, "What's going on, T?" Tahni shook her head, glancing at Randy who was talking to Jason and inspecting his car, "I don't know. I'll have to get back to you on that one." Michael roll his eyes and hugged her, "Take care, T. Miss you."

"Miss you too, Mikey." She smiled at him and gripped his hand, before turning to her brother, "Drive safely, Jay. Call me when you get home safe." Jason nodded and pulled her into a haphazard hug, kissing her forehead, "Stay safe, T. We'll see you again soon."

Randy and Tahni stepped back onto the curb and waved as they drove away. Once they were out of sight, Tahni turned to Randy, frowning, "What the hell was that?" Randy shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets, "I figured you wouldn't have told them. Thought I'd save you the awkward questions." Tahni shook her head in disbelief, lifting her hands to thread into her hair as she stared at him, "You are unbelievable!"

"I was trying to help."

"Well, stop! I don't need your help. Not yours, not Glenn's, not Ted's, not anybody's! I wish you'd all stop treating me like a child!" She turned and stalked away from him, but he followed her, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Upset me? Then what did you mean to do? Huh?" She stopped again to glare at him and he looked uncomfortable for a moment. "It was just nice, for a while. You know? Pretending things were normal."

"I don't want to pretend! I'm sick of pretending! I'm sick of acting like everything's alright when it's not! It's completely messed up"

"I know it is." She tried to walk away again, but he caught hold of her and spun her to face him, catching her mouth in a kiss before she could protest. The kiss was angry, filled with fury and frustration, pain and longing. Tahni didn't fight him. Her hands slid up to grip painfully at his shoulders, whilst his own pressed her tightly into him.

She broke away suddenly, gasping for air and stumbling slightly. He reached for her again, but she held out a hand to ward him off, "I can't. I can't do this." She turned then and ran back in the direction of the hotel. She'd been flying out again tomorrow and she could forget this whole mess.


End file.
